I have only seen one American Football match live in my life. And it is not my intention to see another. That was the initial ill-fated and inappropriately named Emerald Isle Classic at Lansdowne Road. Appropriately it took place on the birthday of Mickey Mouse. On that occasion it was duty not desire that brought me to Lansdowne Road.

I described the pitch at Lansdowne Road on that occasion as akin to someone having been given a giant container of Tipp-Ex and then being let loose on the playing surface.

One of the most annoying elements I found at that match some years ago was what I call planned distractions. They had the scantily clad female cheer squads, who operated at a given signal and dancing ball girls. The playing surface was a truly distracting sight. I never thought I would see worse at Lansdowne Road, but sadly I have now.

And so I am back to Lansdowne Road last Saturday. The playing surface represented an orgy of crass, distasteful commercialism that devalued the occasion. What comes next, Lloyds TSB bunny girls waving their advertisements telling us to bank with assurance. When I entered the ground last Saturday, I scarcely believed what I saw. I witnessed the desecration of the oldest international rugby playing surface in the world.

The only description I can find for Lansdowne Road last Saturday was obscene.

I am conscious that we live in an era where commercialism rules over dignity, ethics and tradition. We all know that most sponsors do not put money into international rugby for the health and welfare of the game. They put money in because they believe they are going to get something back and in the case of international rugby that means considerable publicity. Nobody would deny them that. There are those who do it with some dignity, That cannot be said for Lloyds TSB. Indeed so generous is their sponsorship of the Five Nations series that they decided initially last Saturday they could not afford to provide a cup of tea for the people who give them so much publicity, the press, a long standing tradition. Indeed Lloyds TSB also believe the press consists only of those who operate out of Fleet Street or Wapping. They are welcome to each other, worthy bedfellows.

The time has come where a line has to be drawn in relation to what is and is not permitted and acceptable in relation to the commercial involvement in rugby. Last Saturday that line was crossed at Lansdowne Road and it reflects badly on the IRFU and on Lloyds TSB. The Lloyds TSB advertisements in the middle and at either end of the playing surface did not even have the virtue of being tasteful. They were garish and hard on the eye.

Now listen to this little gem from Lloyds TSB sponsorship manager Mark Harper as quoted in a British newspaper on the scene at Lansdowne Road last Saturday. "I am not aware of any complaints. I had dinner with the Irish officials on Saturday night and they all thought it looked great." Within the context of that statement we really do learn a lot about Mr Harper's tastes, his priorities and regard for ethics central to the big sporting occasion. But he was not finished as he added this classic comment. "The problem occurred when it started raining just after the logos had been completed not allowing them sufficient time to dry. If it had been muddy, the players would have got brown on their shirts instead of blue." That is a leading contender for the most ludicrous and inane statement of the decade.

But who in the IRFU told Mr Harper they thought the sights at Lansdowne Road last Saturday looked great? The president of the IRFU Noel Murphy distanced himself from that sentiment when he said: "I was very disappointed with what happened. But as president of the IRFU we must accept responsibility for the fact that we agreed to the logos being on the playing surface."

Is the placing of the Lloyds TSB logo in the middle of the playing surface a mandatory part of the contract the Five Nations has with the sponsors? Was there additional money paid when it was agreed to allow this? A spokesman for the English Union (RFU) has stated they will not allow it at Twickenham.

NOW I turn to the hideous and distasteful advertisement for Nissan that desecrated the playing surface at the Lansdowne Road end of the ground. That was the direct responsibility of the IRFU for they sold that space to the company. Are we rapidly approaching a stage where scarcely a square yard of the playing surface will not be free from some advertising slogan. That Nissan advertisement was nothing short of appalling.

I gather the IRFU got £20,000 for that Nissan advertisement. I am aware of the costs of running the game and have elaborated on them in the past, but surely there are limits beyond which rugby authorities, in this case the IRFU, are not prepared to go to devalue their own product as it was devalued last Saturday. No doubt the money will be put to good use but without the sum involved the IRFU would hardly have to curtail their development programmes or run at a deficit.

The bank representatives, those of Nissan and the IRFU should blush with shame at the sight presented to the paying public and the millions who watched the match on television. Within five minutes of the kick off the players resembled multi-coloured circus performers. Streaks of red and blue on their bodies and on their shorts and jerseys. It looked truly dreadful. If is an imperative part of the agreement between Lloyds and the Five Nations Committee that advertisements are to be placed on the ground, then let them be behind each goal and it should not be beyond the ability of those who paint these hideous advertisments to do so with a product that does not run if rain falls as it tends to do rather frequently at this time of year.

Thousands of words have been written about the match itself, most of them eminently sensible. And heartbreaking in a sporting context, is an apt description of what happened. But yet again two factors that are never less than crucial and always will be, were decisive.

It is imperative that a side includes an accomplished and consistent place kicker, the second imperative is that acts of indiscipline invariably prove very costly. Remember last season against Scotland when again a late penalty cost Ireland the match. Those lessons were handed out to Ireland's management trio last Saturday. They have got to be acted upon for the match against Wales. It was not just that the unfortunate David Humphreys missed the last minute penalty, he missed four out of seven. And the more I looked at the video of the match, the more convinced I became that referee Peter Marshal and his touch judges were less than competent and far from vigilant.