Happy Campers. The Australians gladly took it yesterday and doffed their hats to Ireland's traditional high-octane physicality. They could afford to smile. The quality of the win was something else. Scrappy, faltering, error-ridden. It was that and more but coach Rod Macqueen, scrum-half George Gregan and flanker David Wilson were still positive after the match and why not.

"It was obviously a difficult game for a number of reasons," said Macqueen. "One of them was that we had a lot of trouble getting continuity into our game. We were finding it difficult to string passes together. "One of the reasons for that was that there were a lot of penalties. We did find that very often we were there first, but we weren't able to get the ball back. Secondly, we often dropped the ball.

"We made some very good breaks in the second half I thought, but we weren't able to go on with them. Thirdly, I think the wind was a factor. It wasn't the type of game to throw the ball about a lot so, yes, there was a lot of kicking.

"But when we came in at halftime, we were reasonably happy with our control of the game. We knew we'd to work really hard. We thought it was a step up from last week's performance (against Romania), but obviously we are aware that we've a long way to go and a lot of improving to do if we are going to be successful at the end of the day," said Macqueen.

"I thought it was a very physical game and there were a number of incidents that we were unhappy about, but all in all I believe it was a reasonably clean game."

Macqueen was referring to the incident in the second half when Irish flanker Trevor Brennan was involved in an off-the-ball punching match with Australian number eight Toutai Kefu. "It was just a heat-of-the-moment thing," said Gregan of the incident. "A little bit of push and shove. One on one. At the end of the day, we ended up getting the penalty because the linesman had a clear view of what went on. Toutai was defending himself more than anything, I think."

No doubt Brennan would dispute the Australian version in what was an incredibly fractured game. On that aspect at least everyone agreed. "I would say it was a difficult match to play in," said Wilson. "There was a big, swirling wind. I mean you can't throw your cut-out passes, which is a way of getting around the opposition. Also balls in the air were very difficult to catch.

"But Ireland are always a difficult side to play because they're all arms and legs, very hard to get through, very hard to get continuity because there are always people between you and your team-mate. The game today was indicative of that." Despite the expectations, though, Macqueen emphasised the satisfaction his team derived from the win. They thought they would win. They did win but they were also relieved.

"We should never underestimate the value of a win at Lansdowne Road, especially against an Irish team who are very fired up. So we're very happy to have that, but, as I said, we're going to have to improve if we want to be successful."

No doubt a sentiment that not just the Aussies had in mind.