Donal Lenihan's slightly intemperate reaction to Keith Wood's stance was hardly typical of his becalming tenure as Irish manager. Destined for this job (and perhaps for the Lions' managership) his has been a non-confrontational style for the most part, enabling him to work smoothly with all and sundry, be it Warren Gatland, the players, the Union, the English clubs or whoever else.
It helps that the Irish management are all recently retired players, and in Lenihan's case that he has played with, never mind against, several of the English clubs' directors of rugby. If there's a problem about the release of say Ross Nesdale, Rob Henderson or Kevin Maggs, he can ring former team-mates Rob Andrew, Nigel Melville or Andy Robinson.
There has been a degree of give and take over the Irish squad get-togethers, with a couple being reduced by a day, and it's been noticeable that there have been no non-attenders. Lenihan also took an active role in resolving another potentially sticky club-v-country dispute over the vexed primacy of contract issue, and this too (touch wood) seems to have been smoothly resolved.
Perhaps all of this explains why he was so frustrated by the festering rift over Wood. Lenihan has been discernibly more toned down of late, and yesterday maintained that there had been no worsening of the relationship between manager and former player.
"Absolutely not. Woody and I would have a healthy respect for each other and it isn't as if I haven't spoken to him since last Saturday week. I would hope it would be resolved soon."
What with weekly three-day get-togethers and moving the road-show around Ireland, on top of the contractual negotiations, the job description may have been altered, but the workload seems as intense as ever.
"Anyone who doesn't think we need a manager should spend 24 hours with me," said Lenihan, who is now on an official three weeks' leave of absence from the Irish Permanent.
At last Georgia is fully on his mind but Lenihan is acutely aware of the public's expectations of an opposition who wouldn't even have been mentioned in the context of rugby until quite recently, and thus to avoid the inevitable bar talk of 50 points or whatever else. Never mind the quantity, feel the quality seems to be the gist of his pre-match message.
"A good result is a win scoring tries, and scoring tries wider out. We're trying to develop a wider game than we've been playing so far. I don't expect it to happen overnight but we'd like to see evidence of progress being made, which is why we picked Jonathan Bell and Pat Duignan for specific reasons. That said, last year our game was built around solid defence and good set-pieces, and we expect to see that again.
"Our whole game was based on those two facets. But to succeed at the top level you need to add a few more strings to your bow and this game against Georgia is the first step down that road."
The road ends with the World Cup finals a year from now, but in the interim the targets are no more than at the start of last season.
"Our main aim is to qualify for the World Cup and then to finish at least third in the Five Nations. For the last three years we've finished bottom of the Five Nations so third place would constitute good progress. The South African game is on its own, a way of measuring us against the best in the world and to see whether we've gone backwards or forwards since the summer tour."
All the while there is the continual ambition of developing new international players, such as Justin Bishop and Kevin Maggs, or regenerating established ones such as Bell, Jeremy Davidson and Eric Miller. "Last year, by his own admission, wasn't a good year for Eric but he's now jumping out of his socks, so it will be interesting to see how he fits in and compliments the back-row. These are all mini-objectives."
The return of so many prodigal sons and the progress of both Munster and Ulster to the European Cup knock-out stages have provided a rare boon on top of the intensive 13-week campaign which the provinces have undergone prior to this month's international programme.
"All the players who've come home are absolutely satisfied and delighted with their decision. To look at David Humphreys' reaction on Sunday that meant more to him than anything he did in two years with London Irish. And the 13 weeks have provided a great foundation, with new players coming into the squad, and it's been of huge benefit to us. The fitness levels have improved again on last year."
Encouraged by Ireland having "the best set-up" of the three Celts, it's still a concern to him that after the feast of European and inter-provincial fare, the AIL will provide a staler diet before Ireland tuck into the Five Nations. In particular, "it disappoints me that the bonus points scoring system apparently won't be introduced until next season.
"It would have been ideal if the three provinces had made the quarter-finals of the Cup in December and I would love to see the provincial set-up extended into January, to bridge that gap, through more contact with provincial sides from the Southern Hemisphere, which our leading players need."
The clubs might be up in arms when hearing that. "I still accept that the clubs have a role to play but you asked me how the structures could be improved and that would be the perfect scenario. That would be the ideal."
