Six Nations: Gatland wants more from team
Ireland have made their best start to a championship for 18 years - but coach Warren Gatland is already looking for more improvement before a potential title decider with England next month.
The Irish heralded their arrival as a force in northern hemisphere rugby with a tremendous 22-15 win over France on Saturday, their first success over the Tricolores at Lansdowne Road since 1983.
Glowing tributes from French coach Bernard Laporte added substance to the new feel-good factor in Irish rugby.
But Gatland, keeping his feet firmly on the ground, is already working on faults detected in the landmark triumph as they come to terms with the tag of favourites.
"Even a game like that gives us a good chance when we come together next time to talk about the 10 or 15 minutes where we lost a bit of our shape and France took the game to us," he said.
"It’s about coping with that sort of pressure and learning. When you win games like that you have an opportunity to do that.
"We’ll talk about working through bad patches and looking at our decision-making.
"It’s a matter of accepting the tag of favourites but having the belief that we can perform. The expectation on Saturday came from within, and I was delighted with the players' attitude and effort."
Gatland was rightly annoyed at the way his side, having failed to close down the game, conceded two tries that turned what should have been a comprehensive rout into jittery victory.
Ireland had controlled the game but, in the face of some spirited French resistance, were forced to rely on the boot of Ronan O’Gara until Brian O’Driscoll, inevitably, came to the rescue.
O’Driscoll, of course, scored a hat-trick of tries last March to help Ireland to their first victory in Paris for 28 years.
And he marked an impressive return from a shoulder injury with the all-important try early in the second half, awarded by video referee Brian Campsall.
The 22-year-old Dubliner, who has not lost to the French at any level of rugby, was the least surprised man in Dublin after helping his side to back-to-back wins over France for the first time since 1973.
"It was not as big a win as last year because we expected to win more than we did last year," he said.
"We really thought we were going to win. It wasn’t a case of saying we could win we really thought we were going to win. It was less of a shock to the system because of last year."
O’Driscoll, described by Laporte as the best centre in the world, epitomises the confidence and self-belief oozing through the Irish side as they prepare to take on Wales in Cardiff, where they have not lost since 1983.
They will be firm favourites to triumph at the Millennium Stadium, and that would set up a mouth-watering showdown with Clive Woodward’s men in Dublin on March 24.
