O'Driscoll suffering more than most

On Rugby:Ireland's anti-climactic World Cup just won't go away, will it? The IRFU having swung into action with a review into that debacle of a campaign fully two and a half months after people were demanding more answers than "a blip" and "we needed more games", whether the Union shed any more light on the subject is highly debatable, writes Gerry Thornley

So the questions will linger, and the effects continue on the pitch, too, never more so than in the performances of Leinster's game-breaking backs, their go-to ball carriers. In all the analysis of Leinster's crushingly disappointing 19-point defeat to Edinburgh, it's hard to put your finger on why they collapsed spiritually under such a welter of errors, and it's even harder to reconcile it with the wins over Leicester and Munster as they sit atop the Magners Celtic League, but a post-World Cup hangover seems to be lingering longer there.

After all, they bought well during the summer. Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings were, as expected, good signings, so too - despite a host of misgivings - Ollie le Roux. The lineout and scrum have improved measurably, with Bernard Jackman in sensational form, Malcolm O'Kelly reborn, and Jamie Heaslip and Keith Gleeson also on top of their game, and the set pieces delivered plenty of good possession in Murrayfield.

The catalogue of handling errors, wrong decisions, kicks out on the full and white line fever were a cumulative thing but, alas, their pack is now seemingly better than their backs. For sure, their coaching staff have to take some of the blame for this. When one thinks of the back play that destroyed Bath and Toulouse two years ago, it's clear that it has regressed.

Rob Kearney invariably attracted most of the brickbats for the ill-advised interception pass to Ben Cairns. In some mitigation, Kearney had been playing excellently at fullback until Saturday, and Welsh referee Tim Hayes appeared to be playing advantage for an Edinburgh knock-on at the time. In any case, he was not to be trusted in applying the advantage law, having decreed that Leinster had used up one such advantage for a penalty through just one phase in the first half when Brian O'Driscoll knocked on.

Looking at the flat-footed and condemnatory responses of Kearney's team-mates as Cairns sauntered in to score, compared to those long-range tries against Bath and Toulouse two years ago, there doesn't seem to be anything like the alertness to such opportunities any more.

There's a panicky lack of composure in Leinster's play which is also reflected in the procession of penalties they have conceded and has made them the most ill-disciplined side in the tournament after four rounds. To a degree, one feels they've been desperately unlucky with referees, and Tim Hayes inspired absolutely no confidence at Murrayfield. Some of his decisions certainly appeared to maintain this tournament's regrettable propensity toward favouring the home side.

The loss of Chris Whitaker was undoubtedly a blow, for he might have provided some measure of calm, controlled leadership, but although Guy Easterby's performance was by no means a problem area last Saturday, the treatment of Chris Keane and Cillian Willis certainly sent out mixed messages.

But most of all, Leinster's offloading game has regressed, and this remains the best means of unlocking defences. Of course, to offload, a team needs at least half-breaks, not least from their best offloader (O'Driscoll) but Leinster have no penetration in midfield compared to a year or especially two years ago.

Perhaps Gordon D'Arcy's brace against Connacht, and the backs' well-conceived try against Leicester were illusory. The very fact that they still stand out is evidence of their rarity value. Felipe Contepomi's try against Edinburgh a week before also remains a stand-out break rather than a trademark this season.

However, in a reprise of the World Cup, Gordon D'Arcy and O'Driscoll seem to be running into well populated brick walls, and in all of this it has to be said that an under-rated Edinburgh's work-rate in defence would provide a good video lesson for any young team.

Even so, D'Arcy and O'Driscoll (and Shane Horgan) look pale shadows of their real selves, and they must be more painfully aware of this than anybody. Rather than use their footwork and attack shoulders, they are running straight into contact with no reward.

One can only imagine the depth of disappointment for them which that World Cup campaign provided, and for O'Driscoll especially, all the more so after his Lions' experience. At 28, captaining Ireland in the World Cup should have been the pinnacle of his career. Good judges say that the trademark ducking and weaving acceleration over the first five yards is not there. One fervently hopes it is merely the consequences of the ankle injury which has apparently been bothering him over the last few weeks.

The post-World Cup hangover at Leinster is mirrored in Ulster as well. Virtually none of their World Cup contingent has hit the ground running or even gradually managed a return to form. Their one in-form player, their one ray of light in the grim succession of Friday night defeats, has been Tommy Bowe, who has tried his darndest and carried on making a positive impact wherever he can.

The stand-out players across the provinces have generally been players who weren't involved in the World Cup or weren't frontliners. The exceptions have been mostly Munster players. It has taken its time, but in the last couple of weeks especially, Denis Leamy, David Wallace and Jerry Flannery have rediscovered some of their best form, be it dynamic ball-carrying or physical intensity.

Donncha O'Callaghan's work-rate has been more effective, John Hayes has again dispelled fears over his impending demise, while few can have had more dispiriting World Cups than Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara, yet they too are playing far better. O'Gara, of them all, is back to his all-controlling best.

Perhaps that is a reflection on the coaching and man management in Munster. One would suggest it is as much the indefinable culture those Munster players have returned to.