RUGBY/Six Nations Championship: It's striking how a perception can mask the truth or at least distort it somewhat. Ireland's forwards were roundly castigated for their performance against Italy in the opening Six Nations Championship match yet last Saturday's display by principally the same unit against Scotland at Murrayfield was lavishly celebrated.

The Irish eight certainly merited the bouquets for their Scottish performance, but the brickbats seem a little harsh when the assertions made after the Italian display are scrutinised more intensely. At the Stadio Flaminio in Rome, Ireland lost one lineout in the air and that was recovered by second row Malcolm O'Kelly on the ground.

One scrum, where they erred before and after contact, suggested that they were under huge pressure but it was just a single occasion. These observations don't deflect from the fact that there were other areas of the forwards' performance that weren't up to scratch.

There is mitigation. Ireland chose to take most of the ball off the top in Rome, in layman's terms to offer quick ball to the backs. It meant that the pack didn't really get a chance to take the ball down and impose themselves on their Italian counterparts. Contrast that with the Scottish match where the gameplan was tweaked to encompass the conditions and the injury situation.

There was more urgency to the way that the pack went about the various tasks and the attitude was first class. Ireland's assistant coach Niall O'Donovan has experienced enough peaks and troughs during his time in the Test arena and before that with Munster and Shannon to seek out middle ground when reflecting on matches.

He wasn't overly concerned after Italy or wildly euphoric after last weekend. True to his origins - he's a former number eight of renown - he does subscribe to the old adage that 'forwards win matches and backs decide by how much'.

"Last Saturday I was happy with the urgency, the attitude and the fact that the players were prepared to roll up their sleeves and work together as an eight.

"There are lots of things that we can do better to bring it further but that's nit picking in a sense. We have to raise the levels for the next three matches if we want to win. You cannot afford to stand still."

A delayed flight meant that he didn't get to see England's game against France at Twickenham until Sunday night on video. "It was a tough match between two talented sides with two big sets of forwards, countries that have set the standard in recent seasons. Winning against England is going to be a huge task."

There is a school of thought that the game is in danger of being suffocated by the paralysis of analysis. In coaching Ireland's forwards, O'Donovan knows that his handiwork is pored over, broke down and examined in great detail. The lineout can resemble a game of bluff and double bluff. "You can't allow yourself to get caught up in all that. All six teams in this championship will analyse each other to death. You have to keep changing even if it's only a small thing. There are only three main areas you can throw to in the lineout, a metre either side of that, so there are parameters.

"It's about speed and communication, accuracy and timing. The simplest way to disable a team is to disrupt their set pieces. There are so many things that can go wrong with a lineout and that's quite apart from someone else attacking yours. It's important to get off to a good start, get some momentum."

English hooker Steve Thompson would empathise with the last sentiment. Last season at Twickenham, Ireland destroyed England out of touch. The process was etched on Thompson's face as he drained of a little colour every time the Irish nicked another ball. It's not simply down to the hooker, although they tend to carry the can. England's lineout is still vulnerable as France demonstrated at Twickenham when they pinched three and forced two crooked throws. But just as Ireland know that in doing onto others, they face being done themselves.

Another successful aspect of the Murrayfield game was the effectiveness of Ireland's rolling maul. So what is the essence of a good maul? O'Donovan smiles: "It's about eight guys working together, communication, body positions and knowing how to handle and circumvent the opposition drive when it comes on.

"It's about confidence and control, knowing when to drive and where. It's very hard to drop it without being penalised and if done properly is virtually impossible to stop. If you are trying to stop one then it's about blasting into it aggressively and hoping to separate the ball carrier from those around him; break it up.

"The window to break it up is tiny. If the ball carrier is not tackled immediately by a single player then once it starts moving the defending team can not bring it down."

It's not all Playstations and X-Boxes at CityWest.

O'Donovan will enjoy a few days rest and relaxation before joining up with Ireland team coach Eddie O'Sullivan and fine tuning the preparation for the Six Nations game against England at Lansdowne Road on Sunday week.