Donal Spring/Rugby Analyst: Every rugby person I have met over the last two weeks wanted to talk about the great victory in Twickenham. It has really given the country a great lift.
I am sure Eddie O'Sullivan and the rest of the Irish management are delighted they had a two-week break to allow themselves and the team come back to earth. Teams can be very vulnerable after such a win.
Ireland go into today's game the hottest of favourites. Not long ago, Irish teams had great difficulty carrying the tag of favourites. Poor performances were usual in such circumstances. In fact good performances by Irish teams usually depended on them being in the role of underdog, which generated passion and determination.
Since the arrival of the professional era, and particularly under current management, all that has changed. Irish teams now perform consistently well against the weaker teams. Even the psychological obstacle Murrayfield once represented has been removed. Our recent results against Wales, Scotland, Italy and indeed the weaker nations we met in the World Cup show a level of efficiency that didn't exist in the amateur days.
It is vital this afternoon that Ireland take control of the match right from the start. I am sure we will see Ronan O'Gara kicking to the corners to put the Italians under pressure in the lineout. I don't see the Italians disrupting the Irish lineout; neither do I see them coping well with the driving maul from the Irish lineouts close to their own line. If we manage to get a few scores from that area early it will make the job a lot easier.
By all reports, John Kirwan has done great work on the Italian defence. They will be looking to upset the Irish game and will make big tackles early on. We should avoid giving them targets to aim at, particularly in the middle of the field. That doesn't mean that if the opportunities present themselves we shouldn't move the ball wide. We should, however, probably err on the conservative side early on.
The main talking point in selection of the Irish time is clearly the return of Geordan Murphy at the expense of Tyrone Howe. The Ulster winger must surely be deeply disappointed and has every reason to be. I heard him being interviewed after the Ulster Schools Cup final on St Patrick's Day and he was very gracious. The return of Murphy once fit was always expected but most people thought he would return at full back. Girvan Dempsey clearly gets the reward for his much-improved form and in particularly his excellent performance against England.
Few will be surprised that Malcolm O'Kelly retains his place in the second row after his brilliant effort last time out. The battle for selection between himself and Donncha O'Callaghan shows the enormous benefit of having real competition for places. Of course O'Callaghan also finds himself suddenly back in the starting XV as a result of Paul O'Connell's late injury. The great thing is that as long as we have O'Connell, O'Callaghan and O'Kelly competing with each other we can be confident that whatever two are selected will perform well.
Many of those playing this afternoon know a bad performance could see them being replaced for the final game against Scotland and that in itself is a great incentive to excel, as they will all want to be part of the Triple Crown-winning side.
We should always be looking to improve and after the last match I did say we could play better. Brian O'Driscoll, for example, did not have a particularly good game against England, which made our victory more surprising. It wasn't that he played all that badly but by his own standards he fell short. He did, however, do a huge amount of work in the tight, which often goes unsung.
He probably needs to be more patient playing inside centre, where there is less space than at outside centre. He should try to play more off the people around him rather than attempt to create everything himself, especially now he has another playmaker beside him in Gordon D'Arcy.
Peter Stringer will not have been happy with a lot of his passing against England and I am sure he will have worked on that. We produced quicker ruck ball in the second half of the English game and it was only then that the backs had space to operate. The coaches will surely be looking for more such ball today.
Elsewhere in the championship England and France should both win. I still have great hope for an English win on the last day of the season, which would allow us to finish on equal points with France and that together with a Triple Crown would represent a great season.
Going back to this afternoon's game, Kirwan believes his side can and will play better than they did against Scotland. I believe they will try to stifle the Irish game at every opportunity and will live on the fringes of offside. Teams can only do that for so long. They will surely have worked on variations in the lineout, which has been a difficult area for them against all opposition.
It will be interesting to see what they come up with. They have absolutely nothing to lose and will take the challenge to Ireland. The gap between the teams is too wide for a surprise.
