Ireland remain superior to the other Northern Hemisphere sides, with the obvious exception of France

DECLAN KIDNEY talks about games within games. About how there are sometimes four separate contests to be won over 80 minutes, making concentration levels and street smarts paramount when certain situations develop.

The spread of rugby intelligence in this Irish team from Paul O’Connell through to the halfbacks, plus the communication levels of the centres, is what puts them on a plane above the other Northern Hemisphere sides, with the obvious exception of France.

This is in marked contrast to Wales who seem to have no plan B and, to be honest, looked lost when reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of Lee Byrne.

There is no excuse for this in Test match rugby. Every team runs through training ground situations with key players in the sin-bin and also how to expose the loss of opposing players. One of Wales’ games within games began in the 25th minute, granted the management assumed the lesson of Alun Wyn Jones against England had been heeded, but on Byrne’s return they had coughed up 10 points and were lucky that it wasn’t 14.

Their inability to adapt was even more surprising considering the importance of the match for both their players and coaches. Once on the field, a team’s natural leaders must run and control the game. End of story. O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll do it but even in their absence there is a growing list of Irish men more than willing to make the correct decisions.

There is no excuse for the shambles that was the Welsh lineout. The injured Wyn Jones is their main man out of touch and Ryan Jones, as captain, and another receiver was a double blow but some of the goings on were just shy of criminal.

Jonathan Thomas was making the calls but someone, if not him, in the pack should have reduced the numbers in the lineout. No one said, “hang on a minute here” as six key throws went back on the Irish side. That was a third of their lineout possession.

The calamitous result of Huw Bennett flinging the ball – crooked, late and standing a yard over the touchline – to the front summed it all up. There was a pod at the back with Gareth Delve due to be lifted but all communication channels broke down.

We know the Welsh pack are missing half their frontliners and there has been chopping and changing but an international side cannot be messing up the calls four games into the Six Nations.

Bring it down a level to club rugby and any lineout operator will tell you when things are malfunctioning, and such days are inevitable even when you are around as long as I am, you immediately shorten the lineout and get the ball in the air quickly to deny the opposition any time to react. Basically, don’t show your hand. By maintaining a full lineout, the Welsh were not only combating O’Connell but they kept Jamie Heaslip and Donncha O’Callaghan in play.

It denied them any momentum, which is a disaster against this Irish defence that has now been airtight in back-to-back games. Wales are second only to the All Blacks as a counter-attacking, offloading side yet they adopted a conservative approach in Dublin.

Another unforgivable moment came off a five-man Irish drive outside the Welsh 22. Matthew Rees was standing at halfback and several Welsh forwards just smashed into the drive, burying their heads when they needed them most, allowing two Irish forwards to peel off and create space. O’Connell did well to get the ball out of a tackle and Tomás O’Leary showed good wheels to grab the second try.

I was reading Keith Wood during the week and he said it best when describing how the Six Nations works in cycles when one team will become the dominant force. Until the 2003 World Cup it was England, then the French came strong before Wales had their few seasons. Now it is Ireland. This makes it crucial that during the peak of the cycle the gathering of silverware is maximised. And it has been, what with last year and the previous Triple Crowns. But, again, another Triple Crown needs to be banked next Saturday against Scotland.

Wood spoke of going to Twickenham and never expecting to win but the mentality has been completely reversed and it sees the team through the tough, sleeves-up days.

I must mention Brian O’Driscoll on his 100th cap. I was a year ahead of Brian in Blackrock but played junior cup with him and one year of senior when we beat Geordan Murphy’s Newbridge in the 1996 Leinster schools final.

I was also on the 1999 tour of Australia when he got his first cap. Those were the days before the current cycle. The low point being the World Cup defeat to Argentina in Lens; another pitch we unfortunately shared.

That he has come through those dark days makes it all the sweeter for him to reach a century on the current high tide.

He has proven more than anybody that it is not just about immense talent but the ability to harness the mental and physical toughness required to haul yourself out of bed every morning, to ensure you are in the best possible shape to maintain what has been a remarkable career. And I believe he has a good few miles left in the tank.

It was a busy week away from the rugby pitch. I was in Budapest on a short break and visited the world famous thermal baths. It started oddly and got worse. I was minding my own business in the queue when this woman belted me with a shoulder that Trev Brennan would have been proud of, when I thought I had regained my bearings, I began undressing in the women’s changing rooms. A lady kindly informed me of my error and I quickly covered up. A few English translations would have been greatly appreciated.

When I eventually found the men-only section, I was presented with a puny linen cloth to cover up the family jewels. Crinkly bottom time but, seriously, it is a great city and I certainly switched off from rugby which was needed what with London Irish having a tough 2010. We headed off to Tenerife yesterday for a much-needed mid-season warm-weather training camp that should have us nicely tuned up for the crucial last six games of the season.

Before that I was in Dublin and my mate Frank Keane took me to a St Michael’s College union lunch in the Four Seasons. There was a glint in the guy’s eye when I bought a raffle ticket and, sure enough, I was called up to be presented with two St Michael’s flags. I wasn’t long disposing of them.