Scrumhalf Eoin Reddan has predicted Ireland will make amends for the dismal World Cup campaign in France when they take on Italy in the opening Six Nations game in Croke Park on Saturday.
Coach Eddie O'Sullivan's insistence on picking roughly the same side that failed to make it out of the group stages in France will test his theory that his personnel was never the problem when struggling against Namibia and Georgia and losing to Argentina and the hosts.
Reddan sat out the opening games against the minnows before replacing Peter Stringer in the third and fourth matches and the Wasps number nine is confident the players can restore their battered reputations against Nick Mallet's side.
"Some of the lads have been playing good rugby recently so there's a genuine feeling of excitement heading into the Six Nations," he said. "When you win games everyone thinks everything is rosy in the squad. And when you lose games everyone thinks you're struggling.
"But when you win games not everything is rosy and vice versa when you're not winning, there's not always a major problem.
"What happens over the coming weeks, starting with Italy, will hopefully answer a lot of questions," said the 27-year-old. "We'll go out and produce a big performance so that we can put the World Cup to bed.
"But we know that nothing will have been put right until we play well again.
"When things haven't gone well, like after the World Cup, it takes a lot to convince people you are a good player again.
"While some players have been doing quite well, we need that consistency to show people the World Cup was a one-off."
The team faced a ferocious backlash upon their return from France and the criticism — levelled chiefly at O'Sullivan — continues to cloak last season's Triple Crown winners.
Reddan took solace from his return to Wasps and a hectic fixture list that meant he had little time to dwell on possibly the greatest disappointment in the nation's rugby history.
"You can't hurt yourself over what happened. We're mentally strong and are good at picking ourselves up, so I'm expecting us to play well against Italy."
Reddan and Stringer duelled for the right to start against Italy in Wasps' Heineken European Cup showdown with Munster at Thomond Park 10 days ago, which the homeside won 19-3.
Reddan, who has five caps, was operating behind a backpedalling Wasps pack but now appreciates the destructive work completed by Munster in a rain-swept Limerick.
"Two weeks on, and the way the Munster pack performed is very positive for me," he said. "Had it disintegrated it might have been fine for five minutes because I was playing for Wasps, before realising I was going to be playing behind most of the Munster guys for five weeks."
