Six Nations Championship: John O'Sullivan talks to Irish forwards coach Niall O'Donovan, a key factor of last Saturday's victory.

On any other occasion in recent years, enduring an eight-hour delay at Heathrow Airport would provide an excruciating footnote to a weekend of Ireland travelling to London to take on England in the Six Nations Championship.

Not last weekend though, because the irritation of the delay would have been softened by a first Irish victory at Twickenham in a decade.

A segment of the Irish party, more accurately those bound for Shannon Airport, found that an unwell co-pilot and an under-carriage problem guaranteed an extended stay in the English capital.

Among the group was Ireland's forwards coach, Niall O'Donovan, the man celebrated as the architect of the chaos visited on the English lineout during the match. The home side lost 11 of their throw-ins, and English hooker Steve Thompson cut a rather bedraggled figure as he was replaced during the second half.

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan paid specific tribute to the work of O'Donovan and defensive coach Mike Ford in the aftermath of the famous win. O'Donovan, a modest individual, shied away from the praise, preferring to transfer the kudos elsewhere.

"I think a lot of credit should go to Mervyn Murphy (the video analyst) because of the huge amount of work he did in providing detailed footage in breaking down the various components of England's game from lineouts and scrums through to all facets of the game. He did the groundwork.

"We practised against a pack that employed the variations that England use all last week and this allowed the players to familiarise themselves with the way the English operated. It was the perfect dress rehearsal.

"The players' attitude throughout the week was excellent, focused on what we were trying to do. All teams employ a lot of variations, but essentially there are only three places that you can throw the ball: the front, middle and back of a lineout.

"We have very athletic players, like Paul (O'Connell), Mal (O'Kelly) and Simon (Easterby) and good lifters. It's about speed on the ground and speed into the air. It's not rocket science," the Munster man laughs before adding, "it's about hard work from the players. We are very fortunate to have the calibre of players that we do."

It's interesting how small things assume greater significance on the eve of a match. The Irish pack had trained well all week, but on the morning of the game, at the forwards' team meeting, O'Donovan noted with quiet satisfaction that the players were focused and could sense a determination and genuine belief in their manner.

Fear is omnipresent among most sportsmen ahead of a big occasion, a healthy sensation as long as it doesn't paralyse.

"I was quite happy leaving that meeting. It didn't surprise me one little bit the quality of the performance that afternoon in Twickenham. There was a confidence among the players as they spoke about the individual match-ups. They knew they could do it."

Several players singled out a specific method employed by O'Donovan to quantify the impact of players during a match. A bit like the magician's code of silence, we're not about to divulge the minutiae, but suffice to say that it's about a certain level of commitment from the individual and contribution to the collective.

It's about a work ethic, about getting up and making that extra tackle, hitting that ruck, supporting the ball carrier no matter what the physical condition at the time. It's about a willingness to find that extra half dozen instances in a match in which a player makes a positive contribution. Essentially it's about the fine line between competing and winning.

For O'Donovan the afternoon was less fraught than for many of the spectators. He was witnessing the training ground precision manifest itself in game conditions, albeit with the knowledge that one mistake would allow England an escape that their performance didn't merit.

One aspect of the closing moments that he recalls is the clock showing 39 minutes. "I remember being happy when Darce (Gordon D'Arcy) kicked to touch but thinking that it had come a fraction early to signal the end of the match. I thought there would be one more play. I was thrilled when proved wrong. In a situation like that you know that one mistake at that stage could undo all the previous good work.The players stood up to the very end, the tackling was great."

It's important to enjoys days like Saturday, but O'Donovan can't afford to dwell. Yesterday afternoon, ensconced at their City West training base, he was already plotting for the Italian game at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week.

"They are a very physical side with an excellent scrum. They put the Scots under fierce pressure and always take a lot of breaking down. They'll have their tails up after beating Scotland and set a target at the start of the season of one home and one away victory. We now represent a significant scalp after last Saturday. We must set our own standards, attain a level of consistency and not dip below that."

Twickenham represents that standard.