AS THE Ireland squad split into two groups yesterday, with the Southern Hemisphere-bound senior players heading for London and the Churchill Cup cluster returning home, Ireland's interim head coach Michael Bradley reflected on what had been a largely satisfactory night's work at Kingsholm on Tuesday night.
Ireland thumped the Barbarians 39-14, scoring five tries but it was the manner of the performance, especially in terms of counter-attacking off errors, the handing skills, the lines of running that will have pleased Bradley. The defence, until the match structures were fractured by 14 replacements, also coped well especially as most of the Irish players hadn't played a competitive fixture for two or three weeks.
There were some fine individual performances notably in the back line, where everyone contributed handsomely. Ulster halfbacks Isaac and Paddy Wallace demonstrated they could run the game. They were obviously afforded a certain latitude in terms of space but Wallace reminded critics when a match breaks up he exploits gaps better than most and would represent an option coming from the bench in the upcoming two Tests.
Shane Horgan, a justifiably proud captain on the night, and Tommy Bowe ran powerfully, so too Rob Kearney. Gavin Duffy had some neat touches but it was Luke Fitzgerald who produced the most eye-catching display; one likely to earn him a couple of caps in the next few weeks.
Given the uncertainty surrounding Brian O'Driscoll's immediate plans, the Duffy-Fitzgerald partnership could be retained. The Irish captain will decide what he wants to do in the context of the New Zealand and Australia matches.
Jamie Heaslip was absolutely outstanding in a pack in which Malcolm O'Kelly, Rory Best and Shane Jennings - he grew into the match - had their moments.
Bradley allowed himself a brief look back before directing his attention to the Antipodean exercise. "The 22 or the 15 who started, whatever way you want to look at it, did very well. The Barbarians had very good players in terms of names on the park. They didn't perform as well as you might have expected but I think that was due to the pressure we put on them and the intensity that the lads performed at for the full 80 minutes.
"It was a point made by Shane (Horgan) at half-time to finish the job and they responded very well to his request. You know we can only take out of the game what we can in terms of the positives and we are very happy. We basically worked off a fairly limited game plan. In fairness to the squad of players we have with us, they would be quite familiar with the systems that are already in place. We looked at tweaking only a few of them. It was basically about refreshing the memory."
Those expecting appreciable changes to Ireland's approach in the upcoming Tests might be disappointed. Bradley pointed out: "The information is there. It's just a matter of us tapping into it, picking off the menu what we want to use for the matches against New Zealand and Australia. The lads have done the work over the last couple of years and we'll go forward from here."
Given the recent upheaval in New Zealand rugby with the number of players seeking to exploit the strength of the euro and sterling, there is a perception they could be vulnerable with coach Graham Henry forced to cap some younger players. Bradley doesn't subscribe to the theory.
"It's New Zealand we are talking about, they are extremely dangerous when the perception is they mightn't do anything and that they might be under pressure."
The Munster contingent arrived in London last night to hook up with the rest of the squad to begin final preparations ahead of travelling to Wellington for Saturday week's Test match against the All Blacks. Ireland will then go on to Melbourne where they'll face Australia seven days later.
