Gerry Thornley talks to Anthony Foley, whose consistency inthe green jersey seems to have been forgotten after one below-par game.

It must be tough being Anthony Foley, either in the good times or bad times. Possibly Ireland's most under-rated and consistent player, he hadn't had a bad game in yonks for Munster or Ireland, but then no sooner does he have one turkey than it's Christmas time for his critics. And 20 good games are forgotten. Just like that.

Again it's the old bugbear - that in fast-paced games against the top international sides, Foley can struggle with the speed of a game. He says he didn't read the papers or listen to any of the public analysis after the defeat to England, though some public slagging has been impossible to avoid. But well over a week on, you know he's hurting. It's etched on his face. "Somebody was saying to me that somebody said I wasn't up to it. I think next Saturday will be my 20th international out of 21," and he laughs when comforting himself with that thought. "Not up to it? Really? Alright.

"They're people's opinions. It's easy sitting on a bar stool and looking at the game, but we're out on the pitch and we've got a milli-second to react, and we're relying on each other to keep the defensive lines and make the tackles or whatever. It's easy to point the finger at one or two guys."

Not having read the papers, Foley first revisited the game when watching a video of it the following Tuesday. "I was very disappointed at the way we played and the way I played. I couldn't get into the game the way I would have liked. But in saying that the English guys did their homework, they were very pumped up and got a big start."

In the process, England exposed an Irish Achilles heel. "We just need to react when teams get a head of steam up like that, learn how to nullify it and how to get our game back on track; try and get a bit more pro-active and start going after things."

You get the impression Foley still doesn't sleep easily when reflecting on Ireland's cumulative effort or his own performance. Normally the amount of times Foley takes the ball into contact and turns it over can be counted on one finger, and in a season at that. Double-tackled from a quick tap by Ben Kay and Neil Back, the sight of the ball spinning from his grasp must have stunned regular Foley watchers.

Another turnover when he took the ball into contact was more due to Martin Johnson reaching over like a bear and tugging the ball out, though there was also a knock-on when Malcolm O'Kelly tapped a Jonny Wlkinson 22 restart down to him. Being his own worst critic, he doesn't need any invitation to go through these mistakes, and admits they got to him at the time.

"It gets very annoying, especially as taking the ball on and catching the ball are second nature. And when you make niggly mistakes early on it gets you out of your routine."

If Foley can be taken as a barometer of the mood within the Irish team - and he usually is - then one of the first three words to emanate from him assuredly reflects their mental state going into this game. Last-chance saloon.

"The management have given us a vote of confidence to try and right what went wrong in England.

"I suppose there will be a lot of pressure on us going out because it's like the last-chance saloon for us now."

In particular, there's a palpable sense of the team, and primarily the forwards, rallying around the much-criticised Frankie Sheahan. More than ever the lineout is, as coach Eddie O'Sullivan says, a unit skill and Foley readily concedes that "at times against England we had a very lazy lineout.

"We didn't do our decoys properly, we weren't sharp enough in getting in there and getting up and winning the ball. It's easy to pin it on one guy, the guy who's throwing it in, but as a pack we all have to take that on board and try and right it this week."

Nevertheless, it's clear that no matter how they heal the wounds, that English defeat was a big psychological jolt. Foley says it underlines how Ireland are still a couple of years behind England, but with almost his next sentence maintains: "We're not that far behind them."

He cites the Ben Kay try. Ireland knew he'd run that line and had practised for it, yet when it happened they were caught flat-footed. Likewise the Joe Worsley try around the front of the lineout. Foley can only deduce that it was a collective mental failing as much as anything else, though he's damned if he knows why.

Coupled with the failure to protect a 21-7 lead against the All Blacks, much less press it home, Foley says: "We need to identify when to control the ball, kill the game, get our own game going, play the game in their 22. We just need to get conscious of match scenarios and putting more control on the ball."

No one did more in achieving that and closing the game out than Foley when France came to within a score at Lansdowne Road last season. He showed real leadership that day. Typically, though, it took comments and columns from his fellow players to highlight his all-round contribution.

"It doesn't really bother me. I'm still in the international team, Munster are in the European Cup semi-finals, so I'm quite happy with life at the moment. Some people say I should get more claps on the back, but it doesn't really hassle me. I'm quite happy where I am at the moment. A couple of years ago I wasn't even in the international team."

A little aside to the England game is that Foley assumed the captaincy approaching the hour with England leading 45-6. Great timing.

Well, what did you say to the lads? "Not the best circumstances in the world to be told you're captain," he says. "Literally, we just concentrated on getting the ball and (I said) that when we didn't, we tackled them, we tackled the ball as well and made sure they couldn't offload. Just things like that."

He tasted the captaincy once before, when a neck injury forced his departure at half-time in the win over Samoa, but captaincy, like the plaudits, is an extra.

At 28, he's been around a while now and has become one of the team leaders anyhow, which also means days like the last one weigh more heavily than the occasions when he was mostly concerned with his own performance. Besides which, he was once more used to losing, having tasted defeat six times in his first nine caps.

He's only 1-2 against the Scots, but has seen plenty enough of them to know they wouldn't be ideal opposition today.

"They are so tight-knit, they just keep coming. Even against England, they never let up, and they've got some world-class players like Redpath and Townsend. They play at a high tempo, they ruck well and they maul well."

But it's a chance for redemption, collectively and individually. "I can't wait to get back out there and have a cut off Scotland, because the quicker we can get over what happened against England the quicker we can learn from it and improve.

"We don't want to get bogged down with what happened against England and start second-guessing ourselves, rather than going out and enjoying playing rugby the way we can do."