Thoughts turn to Murrayfield

Whether or not Murrayfield beckoned as Ireland's shot at the Triple Crown, it was always considered within the Irish camp as potentially the most awkward of the three matches.

Now Ireland must go to a ground where they haven't won since 1985 and beat a country they haven't overcome since 1988 just to achieve the basic target of two wins from four and a highest finish in the 1990s.

Originally, Wales's stunning 3433 win over France had led to excited thoughts of a tilt at the championship, but after England's salutary lesson on Saturday, now an Irish win is also required to make sure of averting a fourth successive wooden spoon. It's that kind of Five Nations championship this year.

The pressure is on then, though as Irish manager Donal Lenihan said wearily yesterday: "The pressure is on in every game. It's going to be very difficult in Murrayfield. The players Scotland have brought in, such as the Leslies, have undoubtedly made a big difference. I think we'll just have to regroup on Sunday and start focusing on Scotland then."

In the interim, Lenihan, Warren Gatland and Philip Danaher will keep with this season's custom and confer on Tuesday night with a view to picking a 22-man squad which will be announced on Wednesday. The white smoke emanating from the Irish management suggests strongly that changes will be kept to a minimum, perhaps no more than the return of Jonathan Bell for Killian Keane to the original 22-man squad.

The Irish management were disappointed with several aspects of the team's performance on Saturday, starting most obviously with the set-pieces. But as that was a rare blip on an otherwise consistent landscape, it's more likely to be a discussion for revision than change.

Much of the post-match debate centred around the poor display of the Irish back-row, but here Lenihan was adamant that both Victor Costello and Andy Ward were "physically 100 per cent right to play" and he pointed out that Ward had played two weeks ago.

But the Irish manager countered this by admitting: "Perhaps Andy has lost a bit of confidence because of the injury, and in fairness to Victor he wasn't given the platform we anticipated in the scrums which affected his ability to pick and drive."

Nonetheless, the delay in picking from the base of the scrum quicker, even deep inside the Irish half, was indicative of what Lenihan perceived as poor decision-making on the day. Again though, this is more likely to prompt revision from within than changes from outside.

After all, once again not too many of the Irish A side offered compelling cases for promotion and so it was none too surprising to hear Lenihan say: "There will be no panic from us. I wouldn't envisage any huge change."

It was of some consolation to the Irish camp that no Irish player was cited by England's Fran Cotton for stamping on English hooker Richard Cockeril, as had been darkly muttered in the corridors of Lansdowne Road on Saturday. Gatland in turn cited Cockeril for giving the V sign to the Irish spectators after Tim Rodber's late try; Lenihan in turn criticised Cockeril for inciting the crowd.

However, the abrasive and vociferous Cockeril maintained that his actions were misinterpreted, and were in fact merely a celebratory salute to the 6,000 English supporters present.