The irony of the situation was appreciable, the Irish team management, coach Warren Gatland, assistant coach Philip Danaher, manager Donal Lenihan and captain Paddy Johns, standing patiently outside the old Lansdowne pavilion awaiting the departure of the Romanian party from the interview area.

The Romanians lingered far longer than anticipated, enjoying the limelight much as they had done on the pitch for 80 minutes. Those who expected Romania to battle manfully for 30 minutes before capitulating, and there was evidence that some of the Irish players subscribed to that theory, were quickly disabused.

Romania scored two excellent tries and Ireland conceded a further three with varying degrees of carelessness, but as several players pointed out afterwards, they achieved their goal of winning the match. None of the green-clad participants, though, were willing to defend what they acknowledged as a poor defensive display.

Gatland asserted that a glorified `wake-up call' was not necessarily a bad thing with the spectre of the world champions, South Africa, looming large. "I don't think it's any harm because the players are now talking about concentrating on defence for next week's game."

He was not condoning a poor defensive display, merely adopting a positive outlook. Lenihan decided on a different tack. "It did not feel like a normal international in terms of the expectation within our own players, despite everything we said beforehand."

Few players managed to avoid the torpor that dogged their colleagues, notable exceptions were Jeremy Davidson and David Humphreys when they were introduced and Victor Costello, whom Gatland singled out for special praise. "I thought that Victor had a very strong game on the ball, he had a lot of yardage."

It was just the fillip that the St Mary's College number eight required after several weeks of frustration and nagging doubts. A rib injury had forced him onto the sidelines for Leinster's crucial run-in and ultimate failure in the European Cup. The sense of powerlessness was excruciating.

But a good display against Georgia was followed by an even more productive 80 minutes against the Romanians. "I am trying to get up to the standard I was at with Leinster before I got injured, that sort of consistency. I lost my way a bit after 20 minutes, I think we all did when we started getting into that chasing the game mode.

"I was happy enough with the second half but in saying that we then gave away those intercept tries and that throws you a bit. On a personal level I am aware of the competition and the pressure to play well. I want to play with the likes of Woody (Keith Wood), Jeremy (Davidson) and Eric Miller and perform at the same level they do."

Costello is honest about his shortcomings, areas he is determined to improve. "I probably don't see the big picture at times. I try and run past a player and look for support. On one occasion Wally (Paul Wallace) was out of sight, so I threw the pass thinking he was where he wasn't. I probably wouldn't do it in a big game, just hold tight, but I have also been judged for that," he said. The former Olympian was adamant that there was no ostensible complacency among the players prior to the match. "I thought the atmosphere in the dressingroom was positive enough.

"In fairness, we set out to win two games and qualify for the World Cup, which we accomplished. Last week we won in style, this time we didn't. I am not saying that there are not problems that need to be addressed, but hoping that next week they won't be repeated."

Mention of the South Africans draws a harder edge to the conversation. The tour Test battle during the summer is something of an unfinished symphony and the third movement is likely to be every bit as compelling, physically. "I think our focus might have slipped a little towards the South Africa game," said Costello. "We are not going to let the Romanian performance dent our confidence, just harden our resolve.

"There is no point in saying we've got holes here there and everywhere. There are areas we have to work on individually and collectively and we will do that. This is a match we desperately want to win. Those aren't just empty words as I think Saturday will illustrate."