John O'Sullivangets the low-down on recent burning issues from David Wallace

David Wallace was directed to speak about a Munster legend, debunk a myth concerning the meritocracy of donning red and green jerseys, before finally addressing Ireland's prospects in the upcoming Six Nations Championship.

The first item on the agenda was the announcement by the Munster and former Ireland number eight Anthony Foley that he would retire at the end of the season. Wallace was asked for a homily, initially conceding that he knew nothing of his provincial colleague's intentions until the evening in question.

"I didn't know that he was planning on retiring at the end of the season. Before I got into the (Munster) team, when I was playing with the under-20s and he was with the seniors, I looked up to him. All through the years in playing with him he has been such a calming influence on the pitch: even still to this day when you're playing alongside him in the back row you know he is in control.

"He has so much experience, a good footballing brain and nine times out of 10 would make the right decision. Obviously I am very disappointed to hear that he is retiring because I enjoyed playing with him."

At this point it was suggested that Foley represents one of the last of a dying breed of rugby players whose careers spanned both the amateur and professional eras. At this point a voice piped up: "What about Frankie Sheahan?" To which Wallace laughed: "I'm older than Frankie."

But back to the man known to friend, opponent and supporter as Axel. Wallace elaborated: "He came on the scene very young, experienced a bit of the amateur days and the first few years of professionalism that weren't exactly professional, certainly in Ireland. It's fair to say that he's one of the last few.

"I texted him: 'I suppose you'll be coaching us next year.' From a players' point of view he has always been a type of player-manager or player-coach."

He cited Foley's three-try performance against Biarritz as a stand-out memory of his colleague's prowess.

Munster's heroics in escaping pool five in the Heineken European Cup were offered as a counterbalance to the disappointment of Ireland's World Cup and Wallace faced what has become a dog-eared analogy about players being more comfortable in the red jersey, a notion he rejected.

"Any time you go out and represent your province or your country, it's as important.

"I don't think that (playing for Munster is more important) is true. You are representing even more people when you're in the Irish jersey.

"Certainly the feeling when I came back and for a lot of the guys was that it was a fresh start. The slate was clean. We could just go into Magners League and Heineken Cup with clear minds and everything to play for and I think that helped a bit. It was great to come back into the Munster squad."

He admitted that Irish experiences at the World Cup will lead to more muted expectations ahead of the Six Nations from supporters.

"The expectations from the general public were a great deal less than they were last year but you still do like to have that bit of pressure. We'll have that from ourselves. We are driven to go out and do well in this competition.

"We want to go out in the Italian game, get the win and perform well."

Wallace knows that will be the minimum requirement from Saturday week's match and merely a starting point on what promises to be an interesting rugby road trip.