Lenihan is full of praise for squad

It's been a jolly tour, full of shiny, happy faces. Even in the throes of four successive defeats, there's been no cliques, no disaffected individuals or rumps. David Humphreys says it's been the best of the five Irish tours he's been on, Paul Wallace the best of his four.

They've worked hard, but they've enjoyed themselves; the decision to have one sharp, intensive training session per day is indicative of the management's approach to the players. "If you treat people like adults, they'll behave like adults," reasons Donal Lenihan.

"And we haven't had a problem anywhere," adds Lenihan matter-of-factly, not even inclined to touch the low wooden table in front of his couch in his sixth floor room at the spacious Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in Pretoria - something of an unexpected blessing for the last week of four after the dreariness of Bloemfontein.

From the first day each member of the squad has been afforded responsibilities of some kind. Allowing himself a little self-congratulatory pat on the back, Lenihan adds: "The other thing is feel. Because you've been on tour, you know when players are tired, you know when they're down, when they need to be driven and when the horns have to be pulled in.

"I was part of Irish squads with great characters and great craic, and the team was better for it. With the advent of professionalism, it's become a bit of a chore. And it's like any job. If you come in each morning and you're dreading it, you don't perform.

"What we've tried to do is try to ensure that people enjoy themselves," says Lenihan, admitting that the management have sought to emulate the spirit generated under Jack Charlton, to whit the players will hopefully be bounding out their front doors en route to the first international squad session next September.

Lenihan describes it as "the most enjoyable rugby experience I've had since I've stopped playing" and with Gatland's ready imprimatur, the Irish manager will seek approval from his employers, the Irish Permanent, to continue in the role through to the World Cup.

Lenihan concedes that they were disappointed with the team's performance last Tuesday against North West but argues, reasonably, that "they showed great character in the last 15 minutes to hang in there. I think past Irish teams, certainly midweek teams, wouldn't have won that game."

Nevertheless, the midweek performances questioned the fitness levels of many of the dirt trackers. He admits that the altitude hit some players harder than others, and not coincidentally they were mostly home-based players. Conclusion? "It's something we have to address in terms of physical preparation. That's why the provincial set-up is the most important thing in Irish rugby at the moment. We have to ensure that that is a success."

Lenihan commends the IRFU for their financial support of the provincial system, and welcomes the advent of a six-series, home-and-away interprovincial series (long advocated here) to be held either side of the autumnal European Cup. He would also welcome a Super 12 type points system for the interprovincials, and also for the AIB League.

"We recognise that we're playing a limited form of game at the moment. We're going to have to expand our skill levels which is where the provincial directors of rugby will have a major input.

To win, we're going to have to score more tries so therefore we're going to have to encourage teams to try and score more tries."

Another concern is the toughness of the tour itinerary. Since the Springboks were re-admitted to the world game in 1992, France, England and Argentina each had one of two Tests at sea level, the All Blacks played two of four at sea level and the Lions two Test wins both came at sea level.

"Crazy," agrees Lenihan. "It is a mistake. We should have played one Test at sea level, there's no question or doubt about that. I know the fixtures are decided years in advance but we have to have a major input into the fixtures themselves and that is something that has to be addressed.

"But having said that, there was a lot of questioning and doubts about the tour. I've no doubt that even before we play the last Test, we made the right decision to come here."

Lenihan highlights some of the individual tour plusses - Justin Fitzpatrick, Justin Bishop, Dion O'Cuinneagain, Kevin Maggs - and concludes: "If we can continue to find two or three players per season, that's what it's all about."

Another lesson from this tour is the need for neutral referees for all tour games. "There's loads of referees floating around here, Didier Mene and Joel Dume to name two, sitting on their arse. They can't get a game. They'd love a game, yet they're standing on the touchline holding a flag once a week."

Mistakes? They may have made a few. "I don't know if our preparation was right for the altitude. We felt everything we did was right, but the players certainly suffered. Going up to Griquas 48 hours before the game and again going up another 2,000 feet for last Tuesday's game. They've been the team that have suffered."

Thus the sheer logistics of the tour meant that the management may have "unintentionally" taken their eye off the midweek side.

Still, no-one was complaining too loudly, and there've been no long faces.