Winning can be a sweet habit

The latest example of this ever more professional rugby age is that the Irish squad quickly depart for a post-match swim. But such was the throng of young supporters posing for autographs, including one girl from as far afield as Venezuela, that the coach eventually departed half an hour later. Winners alright.

It's better to win ugly than lose pretty, and this was a ninth win on the spin. An 18th win out of 18 games for Brian O'Driscoll this season. Winning, like losing used to be for Irish teams until not so long ago, is a habit, even when you're favourites at home to reigning Grand Slam champions.

"Very unIrish-like," smiled Geordan Murphy. "But there you go. Maybe we're changing traits. A win is a win. There's a lot more great moments to come, hopefully."

On days like this there's no more capricious wind at any venue on the planet. At one point in the first half, the flags above the North Terrace were fluttering one way, and literally within a minute had completely changed direction. The wind swirled and even abated wildly, before a heavy downpour in the second half added to the lottery.

So, like the autumn internationals, this will not be much of a barometer for a possible World Cup quarter-final rendezvous with the French. But Ireland's unbeaten surge in this championship has made that recede further from view. Now, the talk will be wild about England, and the possible winner-takes-all, Grand Slam showdown on March 30th.

After England's anti-climactic 40-5 win over the Italians in Twickenham yesterday, there's only a converted penalty between the two unbeaten sides at the top of the table. As things stand, it could probably fill a 200,000 capacity stadium, particularly if Ireland overcome Wales in Cardiff in a fortnight. With the Welsh pointless, and Ireland unbeaten there since 1983, the danger, of course, is that a hint of complacency might seep in.

"That's the test of professionals," said coach Eddie O'Sullivan. "If we lose in Cardiff then all the talk of playing England for the Grand Slam is a moot point. So it's about professionalism, it's about focus, about concentration.

"There's no doubt that people will talk about it and media people will write about it, but I think at this stage we should be professional enough to realise that. The next battle is the most important battle."

One of the talking points after the game was David Humphreys's man-of-the-match gong, although these somewhat arbitrary decisions are fast losing credibility anyway. He arguably should have earned it in Murrayfield, but didn't, whereas Malcolm O'Kelly would have been a more deserving recipient in Rome and here.

Nevertheless, having reached 50 caps and 400 points on Saturday, this is becoming a memorable championship for the "wily veteran". With his arm in a sling as a precaution after taking a bang, no one questioned his award more than Humphreys.

"It's a sign of a good side that we can win without playing well, and we've proved again that we can adapt to conditions," Humphreys said. "We have the momentum now of a nine-in-a-row, and 'the Grand Slam' are not dreaded words. We sat down at the start of the season and outlined our goals. You can't go out and say we're going to win the Grand Slam, but you can't be silly either, and you've got to address these things."

In mitigation of Humphreys's difficult afternoon, O'Sullivan reckoned it was probably one of the most awkward games imaginable for an outhalf.

"Wind, rain and a midfield defence that was flying up at a huge speed. He would say himself that it wasn't an error-free game for him, but I think, by and large, at crucial moments he kept his head, kept his nerve, particularly for those kicks, which in those conditions were almost impossible to judge. So I think his maturity and composure were very important today."

Though conditions weren't ultimately as bad as in November, the game was uncannily like the tryless, 18-9 win over Australia. Ireland built an early lead and made the away side chase the game. There were also hints of the win over France two years ago, when Anthony Foley and Co simply took ownership of the ball in the end game.

The mental strength to hang tough was just as good here, and made better by this being a superior French team (if one without the leadership of Fabien Galthié).

When O'Kelly emerged after another huge game - athletic, with hands like fly paper in the lineout, hugely committed and Ireland's second-highest tackler after Kevin Maggs - he spoke of the impressive French maul.

"It was a bloody tough game. When that maul got going it really motored and was very hard to stop."

Ireland also had to dig deeper for this win than in the autumn.

"Six Nations rugby is always a bigger test than autumn internationals," O'Sullivan pointed out. "I suppose it was similar in terms of the conditions, and the asks of the team, but at the end of the day I think they did dig that bit deeper. Some of the defence was outstanding. It was a combination of raw aggression, but with an organised base to it."

After the squad's coach had inched out of the West Stand car park, avoiding the cockerel that had been cruelly abandoned, Keith Wood emerged with his wife, Nicola, and baby, Alexander, in tow. Having trudged through the grim times, missing out on these days must be hard to take for the non-playing Irish captain, but he's wearing it well, and was in typically ebullient form, having "lost it" on the BBC.

"What about the tight five?" asked Wood rhetorically. "That was Shane Byrne's best game ever for Ireland and Marcus picks today to prove himself in his first championship start and against the French. The detractors have been proved wrong. As for Malcolm, he was world-class."

On a day of trench warfare, this was another one for the foot soldiers.