Eddie O’Sullivan claims that Ireland’s win over the All Blacks was “not an accident anymore” but cautioned that the World Cup is still a ways off.
Ex-Ireland coach O’Sullivan stated that “if we played New Zealand again next weekend, we’d probably win them again.”
“But, I think, when the World Cup comes around, things will get back to normal.”
He added, “There is a lot more water to flow under this bridge between now and next years.”
“Number one is for a very good cause”
The latest win by Ireland over the All Blacks was their fifth victory in eight matches against the three-time champions.
Speak on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound Extra Time, O’Sullivan was the coach of the Irish from 2001 to 2008. He said that everyone becomes more focused for World Cup. However, I think we’re up there.
“At the moment, we’re the better team. This is undisputed.
“So it is a very uncommon place for New Zealand to find and an extremely unusual place for Ireland. But we’re number 1 in the world today because of a very good reason.”
O’Sullivan is cautious about how the World Cup will unfold but believes that Ireland’s win in series 2-1 will put Andy Farrell’s team “in good standing” for next year’s campaign to France.
The Joe Schmidt-led team from Ireland was the top-ranked in the world a year prior to the start of the World Cup.
They were again disappointed on the biggest stage, as they lost in the quarter-finals to the All Blacks’ 46-14 demolition.
O’Sullivan laughs at the suggestion that Ireland should be worried about reaching peak performance too soon for the tournaments in France.
“I find it difficult to have that conversation because you’ve gotta do what you have to do,” he said.
“We might not peak soon enough, so we can’t say that we don’t want the Test series to win.
“You have to accept what is in front of your face. It’s important to remember the historic moments as they will be of great help down the road.
“They will be more worried when we play New Zealand once again.”
“Ireland has emerged as a team that is capable of creating really great gameplans and executing those under pressure. The defence has also improved.”
Sexton’s continued importance is ‘a vulnerability” for Ireland
O’Sullivan also noted that Johnny Sexton, a veteran flyhalf and captain, is crucial to Ireland. Farrell’s squad still has some vulnerability.
“If Johnny Sexton were to go down …..he would be absolutely key to us. He said, “There’s no other way.”
“Joey Carbery isn’t hitting the strides for some reason. He was the guy we wanted and Jack Carty would be the next man up. Jack Carty missed the tour because of injury and wouldn’t have a lot of experience.
“Also look at the props situation. We were fine at end of day, but our props [Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong] Finished playing 70 minutes of rugby.
“Very few international teams do this, so we’re struggling a bit in terms of depth at the front row.
“Injuries, loss of form, bad luck…..all those things can hamper you, but you can’t think too much about that.
“You have to just keep building and building until you are ready for the next big test.”