Lessons Well Learned.
Relief then satisfaction would be the feelings uppermost in David Wallace’s mind following the victory over Scotland
03/03/02.“I suppose the first thing I felt was relief that we’d won and in tandem with that is satisfaction that we delivered on the performance we promised ourselves. There was a lot of tension before the game, on everyone really. Probably as much as I’ve experienced in any game that I’ve played for Ireland. We still had the Twickenham game in the back of our minds and although you resolve to put that behind you and use this opportunity to make amends, there’s always the thought, what if …”
“I was nervous enough early on, they were eeking out scores but once we settled, Brian’s first try was a great help, I got into the flow of the game and things went well enough for me.”
As far as the game went I was happy enough with my performance. Overall some things went very well for us, some didn’t. The scrums were ok, the line-outs, well there’s work to be done there and I think our defence worked well, there was certainly a big contrast in that area with the England game. But it was so important that we won and in the end I suppose it was a question of the end justifying the means.”
“Afterwards I felt fine, a few bumps and bruises, nothing serious, the usual really. Obviously there was a much different atmosphere in the dressing from Twickenham and it wasn’t until I saw the reaction that I realised how much the Engliah loss hurt.”
” We heard the result from Paris just before the kick off. I was aware that the French were winning early on and of course I was delighted that they won because it opens up the championship again. OK, if I’m totally honest, it’s more than that, I mean after the drubbin they gave us you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t hoping for them to be beaten.”
” People will now be thinking, ‘Oh great, if we beat them in Paris..’ but we have the game against Italy first and we can’t take our eye off that.
“I’m in the happy situation of having a few days off now. I have Munster squad session on Thursday in Limerick. So a few of us, Frankie, Anthony Foley and one or two more are heading over to Old Trafford. No, I’m not a United supporter but I enjoy soccer and the atmosphere there is marvellous. Good way to take your mind off rugby.”