Poor performance dents players' pride

What is a diary? Is it a place to store treasured memories and significant occasions, or is it a place to store your deepest thoughts and woes?

For me, the last week has been a combination of the two, moments of enjoyment only found when on tour with good friends, blighted by the gut-wrenching defeat last Saturday to the Pumas.

To quote a line from that famous song What A Difference A Day Makes the pride of the players has taken something of a dent following a performance that lacked discipline and cutting edge, and gifted the Pumas with a victory that at one point looked way beyond them.

With the game poised at 15-11 in our favour and 20 minutes of the second-half remaining, one score would have killed the game off. A scrum deep in the Argentinean half resulted in a harsh knock-on decision against us on their goal-line and within a minute - and three penalties later - the game began to drift away at 15-14.

Though we were still in the lead, the buoyant and extremely vociferous local support spurred on their charges, no one more so than Pichot who contributed a match-winning performance, highlighted by two deft chips into the corner for tries.

All in all, a very bad day at the office, but that does not tell the whole story. There were some bright points during the game, two well-taken tries from Justin Bishop, some good running and general play by Shane Horgan and for myself, my first Test try for Ireland .

The Argentinean Test has gone and thoughts immediately turn to the remainder of the tour and the all-important match against the American Eagles. The flight to New York resembled the Argentinean match, that is we couldn't get going! A two-hour delay, stewing in Buenos Aires, served to give the players some time to reflect and compose themselves for what is now surely a must-win Test against the US.

After the 10-hour flight we had the prospect of a five-hour bus journey to Manchester awaiting us. This could almost have reduced the most ardent traveller to tears had it not been for our bus driver.

An ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, he showed all his aggression in the way the bus hurtled down the numerous highways, regularly jumping from his seat to hurl abuse at unsuspecting and often innocent drivers in his thick New York accent.

Through all of his energetic jolts and colourful language he still had time to point out interesting sights and tease us with his intellect - at one point scooping the microphone to tell us that the local river ran all the way to the sea. Don't they all?

We arrived in Manchester, New Hampshire, and following a light stretching session, gathered in the lobby to go for a team meal. A relatively quiet town, we were amazed to stumble across what we thought was the Tonga national team. As it turned out, they were a team from Oakland, California, called Hayward Griffins, who had lost the American club final to the Gentlemen of Aspen that day and happened to have 14 south sea islanders out of 15 in their team. And we thought we were lost.

Back in the hotel I'm rooming with Malcolm O'Kelly and we need assistance to open our window. I'm not saying we're not the sharpest pins in the cushion, but you need a special lever from maintenance.

The technician enters the room and after asking if we need anything else, Mal looked at me and asked the man "where exactly are we?"

"Manchester, New Hampshire," came the reply in a strong Mancunian/Merseyside accent. "Just checking," says Mal. We are training a short drive from the hotel, and the sessions have been short, sharp and precise. The memories of Argentina are all stored in the mind but all thoughts and energies are directed at the weekend.

The arrival of Marcus Horan, Geordan Murphy and Dominic Crotty and their enthusiasm in training has given everyone a boost. There will obviously be changes to last weekend's team due to injuries and the management's wishes to try different combinations. Even so, moral is good and everyone is waiting in anticipation of the tense announcement, hoping to be involved in one way or another.

And so we look forward to the weekend. After the storm, the calm, after dark, the light, after Argentina, the USA? We need to have heads in the fridge and bodies on fire to salvage some self respect and give a little back to Ireland's weary followers.