Brian Ashton and Pat Whelan must have felt like men liberated last Sunday after the defeat of Canada. The last time an Ireland coach and manager went into a press conference after a win at Lansdowne Road was two years ago at the expense of Wales. It made a very pleasant change, too, for the Irish rugby supporters to enjoy a home victory.

The win last weekend ended a six-match losing sequence at Lansdowne Road. Last season Ireland lost at home to Western Samoa, Australia Italy, France and England and three weeks ago to the All Blacks. Recurring defeats at home, even more so than away losses, impose their own psychological barriers. But Ashton knows and has acknowledged that Ireland need to win on a consistent basis.

One could very well understand Ashton's response, then, when he reacted to Ireland's success on Sunday by assessing the match and the its benefits thus: "First of all we won, we scored five tries, and thirdly now and again we showed we could play a bit of rugby."

It would be hard to better that assessment but equally hard to disagree with Donal Spring when he wrote in this newspaper on Monday that "the quality of performance was quite a way short of what would be required to win any of the Five Nations matches."

Quite candidly, I thought the standard of play in the first half was exceedingly poor. Ireland played very much better in a lot of respects in the second half. It took a long time to put away a very limited opposing team. Nor did Ireland always show the keenest tactical awareness. Those points were not lost on Ashton. But it was all a well worthwhile exercise. Ireland had a depleted team with so many players ruled out. The scope for selection in the matches ahead will be considerably wider and quite a few experienced players will be available. How much wider for the match against Italy remains to be seen.

The International Board lays down a very specific law about players being made available for their national teams and with so many of the English League teams now League of Nations sides, it is inevitable that a conflict of interest will occur - and not just with Ireland.

Thus we are back to the situation that exists in the English League and the number of foreign players involved and the knock-on problems that are a direct consequence. The English clubs were, and are, well aware of the law in relation to release of players. Are they go and sign players from all nations and then tell their countries they cannot represent them? Mind you, that is exactly what Sir John Hall wanted.

Every effort is made to co-ordinate international fixtures in relation to domestic commitments. Yet, on the weekend of March 7th and 8th when England are not involved in the championship but the other four countries are, there is a full English league programme scheduled. How about that for co-operation and co-ordination?

From an Irish perspective in the current climate of the game, it does not matter one whit whether our players are with London Irish, Leicester, Bath, Northampton or any other club. Once players are playing outside their national unions' jurisdiction at club level, then there are problems - as has been so graphically illustrated. To ignore that is to ignore fact and reality.

There is nothing like a change of scene or job to bring about a change of heart and a change in opinion. Twelve months ago, the current England coach Clive Woodward was coach to London Irish. In that capacity he had under his control a goodly number of the Ireland squad. Woodward and the club gave full hearted encouragement to Irish players to go to the Courage League more especially to Sunbury. There would be no trouble about release for the provinces in the European Cup. There would be no problem with co-operation with the Ireland team management."

London Irish should be like a fifth Irish province," said Clive as he widened his coachng experience at Sunbury, and kept a sharp eye on events a few miles down the road at Twickenham as the storm clouds began to envelop Jack Rowell.

I have here before me a statement issued on behalf of London Irish by the then chief executive of the club Duncan Leopold last season when it came to implementing the promises made to players and to the IRFU. It makes interesting reading. And bear in mind that was not even about a clash with Courage League fixtures. It is certainly hard to accept that statement and equate it with the alleged special affinity that is supposed to exist now between Ireland and Sunbury.

The English clubs do not give a toss about Irish rugby. English club rugby in Sunbury and Welford Road and Loftus Road and Vicarage Road is about business. That is fair enough in a professional game but let us not have any of this arrant nonsense that the IRFU and the Welsh and Scots unions are introverted and parochial when they point out the facts as they are and seek to protect the interests of their own national teams.

Now let us equate Woodward's attitude to the England club game when he was involved in it with the sentiments issued last weekend by the same Woodward. Now the England coach, he is worried that the English first division clubs are now overloaded with foreign players to the detriment of the development of English players.

"It is a nightmare scenario," said Woodward. Indeed it is. When some of us stressed the problems that now exist and then lay on the horizon when the mass exodus to England took place, were we not accused of being sentimental traditionalists.

The reality is that the best outside halves in the English first division are all foreign players, so are the best centres, the best wings and if we are to judge by the Lions Test team, the best prop forwards and the best hookers.

And what now is emanating from Twickenham, from Woodward, and Fran Cotton, the man who made Woodward coach to the England national team. They want to have English regional teams in the European Cup, confined to English players. Now that is really interesting. And where did the biggest objections come from about Ireland and Scotland fielding regional teams in the European Cup? Now if that happens, where will that leave the Irish players with English clubs in relation to European competition and experience? The European Cup and Conference were aimed at improving playing standards that would be reflected internationally in the Five Nations series.

There is now also a move by the Welsh clubs to field regional teams, such as Cardiff Blues and

Llanelli Reds so that they can pick players from outside their own playing rosters, in effect field regional teams. Do I need to elaborate? There is nothing like some hard facts of life to concentrate the mind, nothing like ignoring the facts to pursue selective interests. In conclusion the most telling comments of all on rugby today were made last week not by Brian Ashton or Pat Whelan - they were made by Pat Parfrey the Canada coach. I will return to the subject next week.