It was a muted celebration for Ireland after a close victory against Scotland. The Irish team seemed completely different to the team of two weeks ago, just when expectations were building; Scotland delivered a reality check to bring us down to earth with a bang. Only a couple of days ago we were starting to think about glory at the World Cup and that 2007 could be Ireland’s year. Instead we will be hoping for a win against Italy which is likely to be a tough match for Ireland going by yesterday’s performance.

But all is not lost, the Triple Crown will once again remain in our trophy cabinet for another a year and while the grand slam has evaded us, lessons are being learnt. Hopefully this can still be Ireland’s crowning year and that we see out the Six Nations in style with a good win against Italy.