Ireland enter the RBS 6 Nations on the back of a highly successful Autumn international campaign which saw them claim victory over South Africa, the United States and Argentina.

Nail-biting encounters against the Springboks and Pumas proved ODriscoll and co have developed the ability to win tight matches and can stand toe-to-toe with the most physical teams in the game.

As recently as five years ago only the most loyal of supporters would have backed the Irish to emerge triumphant from those matches - even at Lansdowne Road.

With England and France travelling to Dublin, the 2005 RBS 6 Nations should prove to be one of the most fiercely-contested championships in recent times - providing further evidence that Europe no longer exists in the shadow of the Tri-Nations giants.

Southern hemisphere rugby is always a benchmark but looking at Englands victory in the World Cup and the result we had against South Africa, you can see the gap is closing - and not by accident, O'Sullivan said.

A lot of hard work has gone into it and there are times when we have dipped below the standards we set ourselves. But to perform at the level we did against South Africa - who are the Tri-Nations champions - is very satisfying.

To beat the Springboks you have got to be physically strong and match fire with fire, then you go and try and play rugby.