Plot held few surprises for well-versed performers

The talk of permutations and 50-point winning margins, of how Ireland might win the Six Nations Championship and how it might go for us in Stade de France between England and France, transpired to be mildly farcical.Eddie O'Sullivan, the ultimate pragmatist, would never be carried away like that.

Ireland's game plan was to beat Scotland. Anything else would have been not only a bonus but an aberration. At least, that's what the players believed.

"At 16-all it was a bit nervy," said winger Shane Horgan. "The talk of 50 points? Yeah, it was a bit ludicrous. It was a Six Nations game. It (50 points) is nothing we ever considered. We wanted to win today and win the Triple Crown and nothing else entered our heads."

Hooker Shane Byrne admits he saw a Triple Crown come into view after knocking the crown off world champions, England. It then became realistic - one crown deserves another.

"We didn't even think of a Triple Crown till after England. It didn't occur to anybody. But Scotland put up a really hard game. We knew there was going to be a backlash. We knew that was going to happen."

A first half that ticked away as Ireland took their time in settling showed the confidence of a side that had predicted what was in front of them on the pitch, at least for the first hour or so.

"They had a very strong pack and came at us all day. We thought before the game it might take us 50 minutes to break them down and that was the case," said number eight Anthony Foley.

"We knew once we got into attacking positions, we'd score. We did it in the first half. We scored straight off a lineout and straight off a scrum.

"At the moment it is surreal. But it's something we will grasp and it will allow us step forward as a team. To actually get something tangible might make us work a bit harder and dream a bit more and push out our goals.

"This gives us confidence and means we can set higher goals and at times when you set goals you've got to be realistic. Then when you win, you can set higher goals. That's what we're about. But for me, in two weeks' time it will be a different agenda," he said, clearly looking forward to Munster's Heineken European Cup match against Stade Francais in Thomond Park.

Foley has been around the Ireland squad for nine years; Kevin Maggs isn't far behind, having earned his first cap against New Zealand in 1997.

Maggs and five other replacements came on in the closing minutes of Saturday's game.

"I've certainly waited a long time for it," he said. "I've been through the bad times as well as the good times and it's just fantastic to be involved with the team. Obviously I was a bit nervous at 16-all. But I had faith in the lads that they were going to pull through. You're just pleased that the work over the last 18 months or two years has paid off."

For all the talk of the excellent Brian O'Driscoll, coach Eddie O'Sullivan was also quick to praise the mercurial Gordon D'Arcy, double try-scorer and man of the match.

"His broken-field running, tackling and poaching are all excellent and it's down to hard work. He has rounded his game very well and now we are seeing the Gordon D'Arcy that everyone expected."

Not surprisingly, O'Sullivan was less guarded than usual in his praise of the payers, citing the combination of grunt work on the training pitch and the vein of creativity running along the back line.

"It was a difficult game of rugby," he conceded. "We came under a lot of pressure. Scotland gave their best performance of the Six Nations and we were prepared for that all week. We knew they would give their best in their last game and they did.

"The fact we were mentally ready for the challenge was very important. To respond the way we did to their try showed a lot of character and guts.

"Two of the tries in the first half came right off the training ground and were very satisfying," added O'Sullivan. "Potentially, Ireland can compare themselves to the aristocrats of the world game. I think we are knocking on the door and if we continue to improve I think we can get through he door."

The former Leinster and current Scotland coach Matt Williams was philosophical.

"Even if we had won that game, Monday would still be the start of a process for building this team," he said.

That's somewhere Ireland have been often enough.