Consistency is the key word for new Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan as he prepares to tackle his first Six Nations Championship campaign. O'Sullivan has been at the helm for less than two months and has spent much of the past few weeks assembling his management team and organising squad sessions, but the real thing is now about to start, and O'Sullivan is looking forward to it.
"There is a lot of optimism around Irish rugby at the moment, and I think that's fair, given how well our teams have done in Europe and performed in the Celtic League," he said. "We had a pretty good autumn, bar one aberration against Scotland and the last 30 minutes against New Zealand. I guess the thing for us now is to try and avoid those aberrations. We have proved that we can play to a very high level, high enough to challenge most teams. We've just got to do it consistently."
O'Sullivan has taken on board an assistant coach, forwards supremo and defence specialist in an attempt to give his players every possible benefit. "The key is to get that management mechanism working as a well-oiled machine, with the players getting the maximum help from the coaches," he added. "We must control how we coach and manage the team to give the players the environment in which to give controlled performances."
"Our aim is to play consistently to our potential, facing one hurdle at a time and not looking beyond it. Maybe last season, we were guilty of thinking too far ahead as we faced the postponed autumn matches," O'Sullivan added. "From us, I will be looking for consistency, first of all over 80 minutes, and then over the five matches we play in this tournament."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
