Interview with David Wallace: Eddie O'Sullivan made a reference to Saturday's Calcutta Cup match between Scotland and England and noted it was more a thing of guts and grind than a thing of beauty. Yesterday's Irish success, for long stretches may also have been described as imperfect, solid and workmanlike.

The odd back-line move and Shane Horgan's try sought to introduce flashes of glamour but in that operating world of battling out wins, the defence comes in for serious scrutiny and inevitably the flankers are kept busy. They don't mind being a little ugly.

David Wallace, in his third straight game for Ireland, seems to have his openside position back at the level where he feels comfortable with it. As a message, O'Sullivan's selection is also sending word to Wallace that he's pleased with progress and performance. The eye-catching backrow has had to fight hard to regain and hold his old position. Yesterday's game was no different from his previous two and it seems Wallace's athleticism with the ball is again bearing fruit.

"You've got to be happy with that," he says about the win just completed. "Coming over as Grand Slam champions from last year. So yes, we're very happy with that result. In the first 20 minutes they made in-roads with pace and power but thankfully, our defence got better. It is always a concern when you are under that much pressure but you also know that these games are going to swing and you know you've just got to ride out the storm. We did that. They got five points but after that we were able to deal with their attack."

The Irish team made 99 tackles during the match and missed only eight. The team tackle completion touched the 92 per cent mark, something the players will look to with justified pride. But was it really a 31-5 game and were Ireland really that dominant?

"Yeah," says Wallace. "You can't argue with the facts. Our defence was awesome in the second half and we'd a lot of pressure on them and that's why they gave away the penalties.

"Eddie O'Sullivan has always being keeping us on top of our game in defence and as a result we've a lot of confidence in it. We would have been disappointed with the first 15-20 minutes but on the whole it was a good display in that regard (defence)."

Wallace also managed to squeeze in a try. Reverting to the number eight position at the back of a five-metre scrum, the Munster-borrowed tactic again paid off. With a little help from Malcolm O'Kelly, Wallace picked and ran before being dumped on the good side of the whitewash with the Leinster secondrow on this jersey.

"Denis (Leamy) had a run for a try just before that and he got a bit battered," says Wallace. "So I relieved him and had a go myself from number eight. He just shouted at me 'have a go. Have a go'. So I took the ball on, managed to stay on my feet and Mal got behind me and shoved me over."

So it wasn't a case of you dragging Mal over? "Ginger McLoughlin style? I don't know if I'm up to that."

Wallace is no stranger to tries. Two seasons ago he was called up for the game against Scotland in Lansdowne Road, when the number seven in possession, Keith Gleeson, was injured. The team Ireland face in under two weeks' time know, as Wales do now, what a smile looks like stretched across Wallace's face down at the Wanderers pavilion end of the ground.

"Yeah, that was a great day," he recalls. "I came in from the blue. I'd been looking at the performances from home all the time and got my chance when I was called in for Keith's injury. It was brilliant to be part of that Triple Crown. Scotland play a really massive game in your face."

For now Wallace can take some comfort from a job completed and a performance from Ireland the critics may describe as an unconvincing win over a Welsh team in deep crisis off the field and now on it too. The glass-half-empty or glass-half-full perspective has been the essence of a lot of opinions in recent months. Wallace, O'Sullivan and the team, having won two matches from three, have the glass half full but the flanker is under no illusions about the need to improve.

"I think you will always want to improve," he says. "When you win it's sometimes hard to do that, make the adjustments and improvements because you are not on the back foot. We have to look at it in an objective way and see how we can improve. Obviously there were areas today that were nowhere near the finished article."