It was good to see the team perform well against Romania at the weekend and get the bonus point win. I think the performance maybe wasn’t as good as the one against Canada the week before. I don’t think there was anything more to it other than Romania was a better team in comparison with Canada and provided stiffer opposition.

The Romania game was a big event for a number of the players. The pressure and spotlight were on Devin Toner and Tommy Bowe, after they were dropped for the first game against Canada.

The big question was whether or not either could do enough to move the two men that took their place: Iain Henderson and Dave Kearney.

Toner is unlucky in that he has been very consistent. His performance levels haven’t dropped at all, but Henderson performed really well in the warm-up games. It made it nearly impossible not start him.

Tommy was back to doing what Tommy does best. He finished the tries really well – chasing and catching the balls like he usually does. He’s another one who was unlucky, as Dave Kearney grabbed the opportunity in the warm-up games and made it very difficult for Joe Schmidt not to start him.

The only concern coming out of this weekend is the potential injury to Rob Kearney. If it’s not serious then Joe might let Simon Zebo stay at fullback – he had a really great game. In fact, Zebo has really impressed me.

He fell out of favour with Schmidt for a while, but has worked hard to do what the coach wanted him to. He had to though, that’s what the coach demands. Zebo is a quality talent and a good coach will get the best out of him and not turn him into a robot.

For the game with Italy next week, I think Schmidt will go with the same team that started against Canada and see after that.

Wave of change

A lot of people were saying that games against the likes of Romania aren’t worth anything, but that’s not true, especially after the Japan v South Africa game. Japan really shook the Springboks and I think that will keep the bigger nations on their toes.

That result put fear in a lot of teams. It showed that if you’re not on your game, or if you think the win is guaranteed, then you could slip up. Romania are a big, physical team. Their pack is as good and as strong as anyone’s and they could compete in the tight areas, but Ireland got the ball wide and moved it quickly to expose Romania’s week areas.

You saw that even the Springboks improved immeasurably from the loss to Japan. It was great to see in one way that the smaller teams can cause an upset, but in another way it has really focused the minds of the big teams.

The game of the weekend for me had to be Wales v England. Wales were dropping like flies with all their injuries and they looked out of it at half time. They showed huge belief in being able to come back from what looked like an impossible situation.

You have to question the mindset of the English though. They were well in control, they must have seen all the Wales player falling and thought: “We have this one”, and taken the foot off the pedal.

There has been a lot of criticism of the England captain Chris Robshaw and coach Stuart Lancaster over the decision not to try for the penalty, which would have drawn the game. They obviously backed themselves and their ability to go for the try and win the game, but in that situation you always have to take the draw and get out with points on the board. It leaves England in a difficult situation, especially as they have to play Australia next.

Raising the game

Looking forward to the next two weekends, the focus for the squad will definitely be on raising intensity. Everything will be a bit different now. The mentality and focus in the group really needs to step up. All the fitness work and the grunting will have been in the lead up to this. Now it’s about sharpening skills, improving certain aspects of the game and kicking on.

The two games will offer something different.

Italy haven’t set the world on fire at the World Cup, but they have their captain Sergio Parisse coming back, who’s one of the best number eights in the world. He’ll make them better. We’re both Six Nations teams so Italy will feel that they could have a right cut at us in the game, but we should have enough to get the win there.

France is still the big one for us in this group. France pinned their game plan on physicality and being strong. We’re a much more rounded team, with the ability to pass more and do better things in the backs, but we will have to be on our game.

I still think that the World Cup winners are drawing from the same group of teams. Australia is strong, we’re looking good so far with very few injuries, Wales and England are both in a squeeze for different reasons, the Springboks have improved, Argentina can’t be forgotten about and the All Blacks, well, they’re the All Backs. All Ireland can do now is win the group and go from there – starting with the Italians next week.