Brian O'Driscoll told us they were not about to embark on a lap of honour after the match.

But from high up in the stands you could see that a few Irish players were willing to draw out the moment just that little bit as they spread out toward the Canal End and the Cusack Stand.

For most on the team this was a position they had never really contemplated. Putting 40 points on England in Croke Park . . . well you could understand why they wanted off the leash to do something more than simply clap the visitors back to the dog-house.

But the Irish captain's instincts were right. Whatever about the impulses of a few of the players, their post-whistle ebullience and willingness to grasp the moment in the heat of victory, this Irish team is about more. Victory laps are not for one-off matches.

O'Driscoll can see bigger things for this team, prizes more deserving of a lap of honour. Call it maturity or a realisation of their own worth, but Saturday's wave of satisfaction came from delivering just when they wanted.

"That (lap of honour) was never the case," said the Irish captain. "What we wanted to do was show our appreciation of what was a memorable day. There was never a thought of going around. We didn't want to overdo it. It wasn't the be all and end all but I guess it was a show of appreciation to the public today, to the 80-odd-thousand, that their support meant a huge amount to us. It was just a case of going out, showing our appreciation.

"We let ourselves down by not putting in an 80-minute performance against France," added O'Driscoll. Clearly, in the Croke Park context, what is called in tennis a double bagel - love and love - didn't appeal to him. History has a way of dealing harshly with such disasters.

"We also needed to repay the GAA for allowing to us to play in this great stadium with a great performance and a great victory and we didn't do that in the French game," he said.

"I certainly didn't want be part of a team that lost the first two games in the inaugural year of being allowed to play rugby here."

By the time coach Eddie O'Sullivan reached the more sober confines of the media room, he was as always understated, if justifiably barbed when it came to the motivation that drove this Irish team.

"There was lots of motivation. Obviously we are back in the championship and we're still in with a shout of a Triple Crown. It's probably our last game at Croke Park until next year and we didn't want to leave with two losses," he said, echoing O'Driscoll.

"There was a motivation to bounce back from a very significant defeat to France and if we needed any more we got a little bit from the English media who thought we were chokers. So that all goes into the pot and we come out the far end all firing."

But he too was surprised by the margin of the win. The team put England to the sword when they were down and even scavenged off smaller morsels when nothing else was available.

"I thought it would be a closer game, to be honest with you, particularly in weather like that," said O'Sullivan. "Most games in those positions come down to one score. Instead of saying England was bad, I thought we were good. I'd put it that way around.

"We were quite clinical and ruthless coming up to half-time and they had a sinbin and we punished them with two tries. That was a huge moment in the game. They began to realise then that this wasn't going to be their day."

England, though far from vintage, had arrived in Ireland with hopes of a third win in a row, and while coach Brian Ashton candidly stated they were "stuffed", O'Sullivan was more restrained.

"I think it was an inexperienced English team," he said. "If you look at the profile of their team, we were a lot more experienced. We've been in the situation where we've been in Twickenham against a very experienced English team and we've been well beaten. It's very hard.

"The only way to get experience is going through the grinder in international rugby. They were playing well for England. They were playing well in the Premiership. But to come into Croke Park in the cauldron like that and deliver is very tough.

"You can't buy experience, you've just got to live it.

"Once we got control of the first half I think we were pretty ruthless," he added. "The start of the second half England hit a purple patch. They got a good try.

"I think we were asked questions there. I think we responded in exactly the way we should have and we came back and we took the game to them and finished the stronger team. That's a long way of saying it but that was a very good performance."