"Everyone is responsible for their own game," said Girvan Dempsey. The fullback was echoing most of the Ireland players as they emerged from the Stade Chaban-Delmas after the match against Georgia. If Dempsey was making a point about individual performances it was well taken. But the companions to the players' frustration and disappointment over the first two matches are hope and no little defiance.
Paul O'Connell sees the team needing tuning more than a radical overhaul.
"It leaves us still in the competition. We had a chance of losing that match," said the vice-captain.
"We have a few things to sort out and if we do, it will be a different competition for us."
O'Connell admits frustration has begun to creep into the side but insists the players' experience of competing at the top level has engendered team fortitude.
"There is a sense of frustration but I think we are strong enough to sort that out," he says.
"A lot of us have been in tough places with our provinces, our clubs and Ireland.
"They (Georgia) played possibly the lowest-risk game you can play in rugby. Full credit to them; their tactics were excellent and probably better than ours at times."
While coach Eddie O'Sullivan will not make wholesale changes, it does not mean all places are safe, and so in the context of selection for the France game on Friday, there may be uncertainy among some of the frontliners.
"That's not for me to comment on, you know, on other members of the team," said the left wing Denis Hickie. "That's not my job. I'm always worried about my place after a game like that. From my point of view you are always looking over your shoulder because this is a very competitive squad. The closer the game, the closer the (selection) call is going to be."
Going to Paris will hardly sharpen the team focus; it has already been a highly intense two weeks. But they know their chances of reaching the quarter-finals could be virtually snuffed out next Friday night.
"We are not in the form we want to be in or where we need to be," says Hickie. "We'll find out very quickly . . . We go to Paris now and it's all or nothing really. Everyone is going to write us off now but we go to Paris to play a French team that is also under a lot of pressure, so for us there is a lot to play for."
"We wanted to up our performance from last week but didn't get it," said the captain, Brian O'Driscoll. "But I've played in 77 Tests and that was every bit as physical as the top ones.
"It doesn't hurt pride but it is disappointing not performing in the way we know we can. Let's hope we're saving it (for Friday)."
Anxious wait for Leamy
Denis Leamy must wait until this evening to find out whether he has been cited for stamping during Saturday's match. The number eight appeared to stamp on Georgia's Ilia Maisuradze at a ruck in the first half.
"I think it was a silly thing to do," said the player remorsefully. "I shouldn't have done it. I just got pulled back when I was in the defensive line and I just lashed out without even thinking. I clipped him on the side of the leg or foot, I think. It was a stupid thing to do."
