RUGBY/ Autumn Internationals: For now certainly, and ideally for much longer, the sense in the Irish team and from those that occasionally breathe the same air is that coach Eddie O'Sullivan's squad walk with the best in the world and feel comfortable with it.

The frequently asked question of why Ireland could never live consistently with the top sides has been answered in two inspiring matches and perhaps the accusations that O'Sullivan favoured second-tier opponents to boost his win-loss record has also been firmly put to bed. This could be time for some revisionism.

And underneath the tomfoolery of amateur Ireland competing for so many years against professional teams, O'Sullivan's four-year dig has unearthed a pedigree and bloodline that does not now automatically perish under the sustained stress of Tri-Nations teams. Indeed, Ireland's sporting genealogy is royal.

As a result the scramble to start this weekend against the Pacific Islands is frantic enough in the squad. For players eager to please and more eager to win, getting a foot across the whitewash at the beginning of the match is the best place to be and even as expected, O'Sullivan will field a more dramatically experimental side, the expectations are that Ireland's primary concern is to win the last international match to be played in the old stadium.

"One of the pleasing things is that the backline are starting to deliver now," says Ronan O'Gara at his team hotel in Dublin. "They've done it two weeks in a row now because they've got quality ball. Fellas are dying to play this weekend. They think that with the momentum in the team, it is a good time to be starting in an Irish team. I think that we've lost the myth that these fellas are so much better than we are. We are on equal footing now."

Good old O'Gara, never afraid to up the ante. But the idea that any of the players can assume that the Irish shirt is theirs to keep has become a sort of a heresy and has galvanised the side into a more competitive bunch. That Denis Hickie made strong claims for the left-wing position in the absence of the injured Andrew Trimble and that pitch leaders like Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll have maintained their incredibly high performance levels is because of the shove coming from behind.

"Greater depth? Yes, of course I would agree," adds O'Gara. "I think that before if the Ireland team was changed, it was maybe weakened. There were four changes made last weekend and they didn't affect us. I think it even strengthened us in some respects. That's the sort of strength and depth we now have. One of the lessons we have learned is to get ourselves right. If we manage that then we become a very difficult team to beat because there is quality all over."

The mantra of needing to win, of taking the step up and of believing that they are better than no one and no one is better than them will hold Ireland in good stead come Sunday. The Pacific Island team, a farrago of talent that has so far lacked cohesion, or indeed commitment given the defections, could possibly lull Ireland out of their wilful intentions. No so.

"We want to win week-in, week-out regardless," says D'Arcy. "It's a sign of how the team is maturing. Everyone wants to put the jersey on this weekend and the guys will want to get out on to the field and win.

"These players (Pacific Islanders) don't hold any quarter. They play a really hard physical game and we will need to play as well as we did in the two previous matches. They have guys who can do damage. If we start throwing long, wide loopy passes, then they will react to the mistakes. They have guys who can do damage and they have the ability to score tries."

What Ireland might subliminally fear is injury. While Marcus Horan will remain sidelined for a few months and Trimble continues to have his hamstring treated, the one thing Ireland will expect is frequent low-flying and occasional high-flying Islanders around Lansdowne Road. Ferocious in the hit, Ireland wants the win but robust as they are, they also wish to walk off the hallowed turf intact.

"They are obviously going to try and hurt you in the tackle," adds D'Arcy. "But you have to respect that. Some people might argue that it's illegal in that they are not using their arms in the tackle but that's how the boys were brought up playing rugby. We have to accept that and get on with it."

The closure of this chapter of autumn rugby does not come without additional names being pushed into the headlines. Modestly, the inside centre points to Denis Leamy, Andrew Trimble and Neil Best as a few reputation builders, who were only a work-in-progress this time last year.

"The All Blacks have two or three for every position," says D'Arcy. "But if you look back to last autumn, a lot of our players were starting out then and they are now becoming stars. So we ARE starting to get depth into the team."

D'Arcy's experience has taken him to the Pacific Islands, when Ireland toured there a couple of years ago. Not as cosmopolitan as Paris, London or Melbourne, he chose to see the isolation as a character builder. Every bit counts. After South Africa and Australia, this one too.