Liam Toland Rugby Analyst:A blip is not a blip if there's nothing blipping done about the blip. And to date since Rugby World Cup 2007 there has been precious little done.
As I sat in Paris watching this Irish team falter against the French, I looked down on the sideline to watch our greatest ever lineout exponent, Mal O'Kelly, kicking his heels until the 71st minute as our lineout crumbled: nothing was done.
It's worth recalling that Ireland's lineout steals for the RWC were the same as . . . Japan's.
Irish rugby has mixed its brilliant and bleak days in good measure but that was in times past when Triple Crowns (1982 and 1985) were followed by Wooden Spoons.
Irish rugby philosophy could be filed under the heading 'give it a lash, Jack'.
Fast forward to the present day, where the squad is buried deep under the buzz words of modern Test-match preparation - statistics, nutrition, scrum, lineout, ruck, attacking and defence coaches.
The way forward is not always found in a textbook or on a blackboard.
It's my contention that Eddie O'Sullivan's Triple Crown successes can be attributed to several key men in Irish rugby: Declan Kidney, Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney; for they are the men who moulded the greatest crop of Irish players.
Leinster shaped Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie and Girvan Dempsey. Munster groomed Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan, John Hayes, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara and their ilk as they negotiated a passage in professional rugby.
It can also be argued that the only true measure of O'Sullivan's influence was when he finally got complete control over the players and management, specifically presiding over fitness, nutrition, technical, tactical and defensive systems and attacking gambits. He had the ultimate say in all those spheres.
The fruit of his enormous effort was RWC 2007, where, but for Denis Leamy's intervention at the base of a ruck, Georgia would have bettered or, arguably more pointedly, battered us.
The Genesis report has made several recommendations to amend O'Sullivan's direct influence on the squad, highlighting a need for a backs coach, a manager/mentor and a shrink.
In their continuing absence the coach has a massive opportunity to prove he has learned from RWC 2007 but his squad selection does not indicate that.
All through the tournament his philosophy was for a high-tempo, ball-off-the-ground style of rugby without choosing the specific personnel to implement it.
And once again going into the Six Nations the Ireland coach seems destined to repeat the error.
Keith Gleeson has moved heaven and earth to get back to his best and ostensibly his talents seem tailor-made to suit the patterns O'Sullivan wishes to play. So why is he not there?
Why has Warren Gatland (with Rob Howley and Shaun Edwards at his side) begged Martyn Williams to come out of retirement?
Wales and Ireland need a genuine openside flanker and not just a player to fill the number seven jersey.
Leinster's Jamie Heaslip too should also be starting, with Denis Leamy continuing his rehabilitation at blindside.
Bernard Jackman was only a couple of short weeks from being booted out of professional rugby when preparation met opportunity. He deserves to start at Croke Park today.
Last season he played an AIL match for Clontarf against Lansdowne where he appeared very much at home but he has reinvented himself, battled and clambered his way to the top.
I'm delighted for him but not so for the London Irish secondrow Bob Casey and the Ulster wing Tommy Bowe, who have been omitted.
O'Sullivan would do well to take note of Andy Robinson's rejuvenation of Edinburgh rugby, thanks to a philosophy based on one simple principle - "genuine competition for places".
Maybe the Ireland coach believes that since he received another chance so too should his players.
If he's scratching around for a template for success he might consider that of Shannon: put the experience on the bench, go with form and create genuine competition for places.
It's about rewarding those players who are bursting to play for Ireland. After all, with the stars sitting on the sideline there's a better chance the bench will be used.
As for the Six Nations it could be the best for years, with so many new faces. Much of the talk for rule changes post-RWC was misguided as the tournament resembled a goldfish bowl, with the battle of the video nerds winning out.
A new-look Wales could prove Ireland's nemesis this season. O'Sullivan must freshen the ideology, make Ireland less predictable, less reliant on the same old faces.
My hope for the championship is that the Irish players stand up for themselves and think as they do in their native provinces.
This Irish team will be the most settled squad (725 caps) in the tournament, so O'Sullivan's men must be judged not alone on victories and scorelines but also on performances.
I want Ireland to win the Grand Slam but I really don't care for a hollow victory while the rest of Europe are rebuilding.
I know the players are all hurting from RWC 2007.
But if they need any motivation I might introduce them to Large and Bud from Limerick, who departed from Shannon for Heathrow and then took a trip on a Eurostar train to Paris to spend two nights in a shoebox of a hotel at a cost of €850 to be in Stade de France to watch Ireland fall.
As Yossarian once noted, "Your enemy is anyone who'll get you killed no matter what side he's on."
Drive it.
