SAVOUR the now moment, we are urged by psychologists. And so it was for the Irish officials and their skipper as they luxuriated - well, almost - in yet another win over the hapless Welsh. During the official interview session there was barely a mention of that painful happening at Parc des Princes two weeks ago, and only a passing reference to the forthcoming visit to England at Twickenham.

In quieter moments a little while later, however, Niall Hogan was prepared to consider the past and the future, while appreciating the present. Looking almost vulnerable in his youthfulness while he headed into a further round of interviews, the 24 year old bad reason to be pleased with his debut as Ireland's captain.

"Sure, we had a bad day in Paris, where the French happened to be brilliant," he admitted. "And yes, most definitely,

England will be equally difficult in two weeks. But the great thing about today's match is that we have taken a step in the right direction."

He went on: "I was far from happy with my own game against the French, but thankfully, things change. So the challenge of going to Twickenham to take on one of the greatest sides in the world, is obviously a lot less daunting now than it might have been."

On this latter point, however, Welsh coach Keith Bowring was clearly in need of some convincing. When asked what he thought of Ireland's prospects at Twickenham, where the Welsh displayed much promise in defeat last month, Bowring replied with a wide grin: "I wish them the very best of luck." The word "very" was invested with such a meaningful inflection as to leave no doubt that he wouldn't be mortgaging his house to have a bet on the Irish.

With admirable candour, the Ireland manager, Pat Whelan, admitted: "We're relieved, to be quite frank about it. We performed well under pressure and we're not totally overwhelmed by the prospect of facing England. But we will obviously have to work very hard on our preparation next weekend."

Then we got a taste of Munster pragmatism as Whelan went on to define the significance of fire and passion in the afternoon's victory. "Irish fire and passion is only of use when your organisation is right and when the talent is there. And though we won, everything wasn't right today."

"Tackles were missed on certain occasions, and there were decision making situations that we were obviously not pleased with".

Having got those criticisms off his chest, Whelan went on: "Our ball retention improved a lot; we won a large share of our own lineout ball; the number of basic errors we committed in the scrums was reduced and, in general, our continuity and sense of urgency was certainly an improvement on our earlier matches."

Referring to the previous two victories over the Welsh in the last 12 months, Hogan said.

"Being aware of those wins meant that we didn't go into today's match fearing them. We had a lot to prove after our last two games and I'm very happy with the way the things went."

The Irish skipper went on to praise the international debut of Orrell full back Simon Mason, who seemed to epitomise the free spirited mood of this latest line up. "He's a confident guy, confident of his own footballing ability and I thought he had and excellent game," he said.

Murray Kidd, the Irish coach, also seemed to be impressed by the attitude of his youngsters. "People like Simon Mason are incredibly confident," he said.

"They know their own ability." Then, in response to a pointed question from a visiting scribe, the New Zealander admitted that the 21 year old Welsh outside half, Arwel Thomas, was singled out for special attention in Ireland's strategy.

"We knew that if he was allowed to get his backs away that both the Welsh backline and himself could become extremely dangerous," said Kidd. "So we were determined not to give him any space. Effectively we set about cutting the supply to the Welsh midfield."

From a Welsh standpoint, Bow exuded a generosity of spirit that was reflected among the remarkable invasion of 27,000 supporters from the Principality for the weekend. "All credit to the Irish side for digging very deep and winning out today with a determined and very committed approach," he said.

"They certainly frustrated our handling game. We came here really to play rugby hand ball and I think we probably made too many mistakes. I think we were frustrated also by the tenacious Irish defence. We've got no excuses in that respect."

As for the Welsh fans: from what I observed in the hostelries close to the ground, their handling of black, cream topped nectar was of an admirably high order. And as evening approached night, the pain of defeat was rapidly receding.