O'Sullivan contends with Six Nations slog
Eddie O’Sullivan believes the gruelling format of the Six Nations explains Ireland’s failure to maintain their stunning autumn form.
Ireland blitzed South Africa and Australia on successive weekends to temporarily climb up to third place in the world rankings and heighten expectation for the Six Nations.
However, apart from the record 43-13 victory over England, Brian O’Driscoll’s side have looked unconvincing, despite putting themselves in a position to clinch the title on the final weekend.
O’Sullivan said: “It would be hard to argue that except for the England match we hit the levels we set in the autumn.
“We have to factor into that there were only really two games in two weeks during the autumn. The Six Nations is five matches in seven weeks.
“It’s a different tournament and the intensity is higher than the autumn internationals, even if you are playing sides from the southern hemisphere.
“The intensity of Six Nations rugby is underestimated in most parts of the world. It’s fairly bruising rugby for every side.
“Defences are tighter and more aggressive. It’s hard to play well in the Six Nations.”
O’Sullivan cites the example of France, who saw their Grand Slam bid wrecked by a 26-18 defeat to England last Saturday, to illustrate how fickle the Six Nations can be.
The Ireland coach maintains his Triple Crown winners will have completed a “solid” Six Nations if they dispatch Italy in Rome on Saturday.
He said: “Look at France. They were going to win the World Cup a couple of weeks ago. They were on track for the Grand Slam and everything was hunky-dory.
“Then they lost at Twickenham. Where did that come from? The bookies didn’t see it either and that’s Six Nations rugby.
“I’ve said it all the way through. Of course the ambition is to play five perfect games and win the Grand Slam but it rarely works like that.
“You have to be realistic and know that some days you’ll have setbacks when things don’t go right.
"But you have to move on as it’s the process of building.
“For that reason I’d say our four games in the Six Nations have not been as smooth as the two in the autumn in terms of performance, but it’s a different landscape.
“I’m not in a panic over it. We’re not too far from where we want to be.
“Sometimes results can cloud reality. People say everything is fine when it’s not fine. Sometimes you lose games but it doesn’t mean things are bad.
“If we win on Saturday with a good performance, we’ll have had a good solid Six Nations. I’d be disappointed we didn’t win the Grand Slam but there you go.”
