Gerry Thornley on Rugby: There appears to be a feeling out there that as a nation our liking for partying and celebrating went a bit OTT last Saturday. That having come, strictly speaking, second in the table we were settling for second best. As one listener to Newstalk Radio put it in a text yesterday, Roy Keane would never have approved.

But Triple Crowns don't roll by very often, two in the 19th century, two in the '40s, two in the '80s and now two since the turn of the Millennium, least of all in Twickenham, where for many Irish fans there would be no finer place to celebrate.

That Brian O'Driscoll was the first to put his dirty mitts on the spanking new trophy made it all the better and definitely worth celebrating. The manner in which this team keep their nerve and showed their character as well as their cutting edge can only embolden them for the future.

If Munster had pulled that rabbit out of the hat we would be saying it was typical of them. Yet in truth, such a daring reprieve might instead be considered the unique preserve of this team, albeit with it's healthy core of Munster and Leinster players, which is clearly blending well off and on the pitch.

In the post-match euphoria Tom McGurk asked Brent Pope if those of us who had dared to criticise Eddie O'Sullivan and the management ticket were just trying to sell newspapers. He's entirely entitled to ask the question although given the customary make-up of the RTE panel, why not add in the rider: "Were they to increase viewing figures also?"

The criticisms were entirely valid. In the autumn there were questionable selections, based in part on O'Sullivan having a narrow outlook. For example, throwing Malcolm O'Kelly into the fray against the All Blacks and Australia when not ready, and picking him up with Matt McCullough ahead of Mick O'Driscoll and Bob Casey, persevering with Shane Byrne and preferring Rory Best to Jerry Flannery, continuing to ignore David Wallace, etc, and passing up an opportunity to expand the base of experience further with a short-term selection against Romania. Hindsight has, if anything, made those calls look even more flawed.

There was much talk of "transitioning" the team's style although a team in transition is a tad dubious when you tot up the caps of last Saturday's starting team, 590. Save for Flannery, Denis Leamy and Andrew Trimble, hardly a team of baby-faced youths?

And the bench contained another 184. Ah, the bench!

Okay, Eddie has his ways and methods here, and the endgame could undoubtedly justified his decision to merely employ four of his replacements - which by the head coach's standards was a veritable flurry.

But you wonder why Eoin Reddan and David Humphreys did not feature for one minute in the campaign, save for the former's late cameo as an injury-time winger in Paris. Any wonder that Humphreys is set to retire this week?

To O'Sullivan's immense credit he has clearly not lost the dressingroom and the team's play has developed. Indeed, judging by soundings from the players, unlike ever before in his reign O'Sullivan has empowered the players like never before, not just in agreeing to a change in base but also on the training ground and on the pitch.

That was entirely necessary if this talented group of players were to break out of the structured shackles of last season and be able to play more with their heads up. There have arguably been mistakes along the way, not least in the decisions to take certain tap penalties in the first periods of the games away to France and England.

There are still, clearly, many things working in the management set-up, not least Niall O'Donovan's consistently excellent work with the lineout, Mervyn Murphy's highly regarded video analysis and Graham Steadman's development of a more varied defensive system which at last isn't totally a numbers/drift defence but has actually become more pro-active and is forcing turnovers - even if there were a couple of blips in organisation and communication last Saturday.

But there is still plenty to improve upon, and but for a 79th-minute try they would be under much greater scrutiny than they are now. Whether it's partly to do with his own sense of insecurity, O'Sullivan isn't inclined to trust outside help too readily, witness the less than effusive relationships with Matt Williams and Declan Kidney, when they were coaches to the Irish A team, or latterly David Knox.

One still wonders about the development of more of an offloading game rather than one which relies on repeated recycling. Surely Welsh forwards and backs cannot be collectively more skilful than Irish?

Aside from perhaps bringing in Roly Meates or Paul McCarthy occasionally to address the scrummaging, and hope that Bryan Young continues his rapid development, there might also be a case for bringing David Knox on board once or twice. That, perhaps, would stick in O'Sullivan's craw given the backline is his domain, but as he, O'Driscoll and O'Connell have admitted, the back play didn't really click this season.

Indeed, the language emanating from the camp in the immediate aftermath was encouraging in that it reflected a more realistic self-appraisal and with it a realism that this team can achieve so much more.

True, there's a tough summer itinerary with two Tests in New Zealand and one in Australia. Throw in an autumn series at home to South Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands, another Six Nations campaign, the summer tour which has been pencilled in for South Africa next year, and perhaps a couple of warm-up games, supposedly including the Boks yet again, and Ireland could have another 13 Tests between now and the next World Cup.

And the hope must be that Ireland will go there with all 30 players capable of contributing to the cause, rather than six or seven them knowing they are glorified tackle bags, and thereby avoid some of the mistakes that were made in 2003.

Ireland can aim higher than losing to France, squeezing past Argentina and being routed by the All Blacks. In the shorter-term the itinerary offers every chance to finally garner that frustratingly elusive Six Nations title, and maybe even a slam.

Nothing Ireland's major rivals in Europe are doing would be inclined to particularly frighten you. The two teams who made the most obvious strides were the ones to make the most advances, but they were coming from lower bases. Scotland's haul of six points and a third-place finish possibly flatters them a little, given they created little, while Italians deserved better, but again received less than an equitable deal from officials in four of their five outings.

Wales were the last country which should have changed anything and now look set to be searching for another coach. Madness.

For England, and even France though, it looked like a wasted year; although if it provokes England into a regime change they might ultimately benefit sooner.

Ireland have possibly now had the most progressive year of all, helped with a little pain and some navel contemplation along the way.

gthornley@irish-times.ie