We were in the match right until the last minute. Our forwards were excellent and I was pleased with our behaviour and the way we took the game to Ireland for most of the match.

I dont think Ireland played badly, rather I think that Italy played well so basically I am satisfied and have a positive feeling about the match.

If you are asking me to name names I would single out Mauro Bergamasco, Alessandro Troncon and Sergio Parisse but everyone played well - also Roland De Marigny did well.

But (Brian) ODriscoll is such a great player and every time he got the ball he looked dangerous and he created two tries out of nothing - it was another outstanding performance from him.

Ireland are a very good side - the tournament favourites - but Italy were competitive.

Against Wales next weekend its going to be very, very hard.

They beat England, which did not surprise me because I said there was the possibility of shocks.

However, we are confident in our game after Sundays performance. I think we can compete with Wales and I certainly would not rule out the possibility of us winning.

We are playing every game to win and we have no injuries to report from the Ireland game, so that is good news as well.

That is something that must be considered and we have plenty of reasons to be confident.