Overview by Gerry Thornley

Whatever about a degree of weariness among an alienated and disillusioned Irish following, the forthcoming Six Nations provides an acid test of Eddie O'Sullivan's ability to instil in the Ireland squad some eagerness and freshness. As they arrived in the immediate aftermath of the Heineken European Cup pool stages for the first of 46 (out of 56) nights together in camp, the players would not have been human if their renewal of vows and training didn't give them some haunting memories of the World Cup campaign.

While the players - in public at any rate though less so in some instances in their written and verbal submissions to Genesis - seemingly are at a loss to explain what went wrong in France, the head coach finally held his hands up in a recent interview but only while clinging to the mantra that he hadn't arranged enough games.

One can only venture that the thought of another couple of weeks or a month together in camp last summer would have driven some players to the verge of alcoholism or manic depression - or both.

And no amount of spinning or whitewashing can ignore the fact that, in the final analysis, Ireland finished with a points difference that was 169 inferior to that of France and 128 inferior to that of Argentina. The problem went way deeper than a lack of matches.

After six years and 71 matches in charge (73 including two Tests in Japan overseen by Niall O'Donovan while O'Sullivan was on Lions duty, 74 if you add in the Bayonne match - and not forgetting a previous 18 as assistant/backs coach) there would have been an argument for a new broom and fresh approach regardless of how Ireland performed in the World Cup.

Judged by the altogether more demanding criteria of other unions and federations, or in contrast to other coaches who deemed one or two World Cup cycles sufficient, O'Sullivan is fortunate to still be in charge.

At a coming together of the World Cup squad before Christmas, he apparently vowed to change his ways and become more approachable, though warning he wasn't going to turn into Santa Claus or the Milky Bar Kid. But will this be enough? Is O'Sullivan's working relationship with the likes of Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara and Geordan Murphy (treated appallingly in France) damaged irreparably?

In any event, restoring the enthusiasm, belief and morale of the vast majority of his Six Nations squad - 23 of whom were at the World Cup - will not be easy, all the more so as the head coach and remainder of the coaching staff are entirely unchanged.

No players this writer has spoken to, or has heard of, suggested a new backs coach or manager (though some did suggest other changes) and - no matter whether the appointments were the Union's or O'Sullivan's to make - all too predictably those supposed recommendations arising from the Genesis report have not come to fruition in time for the Six Nations.

Nor should they (despite the fact there has always been a glaring need for a more experienced, hands-on manager since Brian O'Brien's slightly puzzling departure). Ideally they should be the head coach's appointments anyway, and if the Six Nations campaign were to persuade even the Union's blindly loyal hierarchy that change was needed at the very top, then why encumber a new head coach with two vital back-up roles not of his choosing?

Clearly, the Genesis report was an elaborate and expensive ploy to buy the Union time after their premature and foolhardy decision before the World Cup to grant O'Sullivan a new four-year extension. Of course, this did not extend to those among his management ticket who were not IRFU staff employees. Depending on how the Six Nations goes, they remain unsure of their futures, leaving O'Sullivan more secure, if only financially.

Ideally, O'Sullivan should have ridden off into the sunset after a tenure - which wrought improvements and had its highs - well served. Alas, he has probably clung on too long, and longer than he predicted four years ago, and comforted by his new deal and other deals, he clearly took his eye off the ball last year.

Unfortunately then, this campaign remains as much a test of O'Sullivan's continuing reign as that of his assistants, not to mention his damaged but continuing ambitions to coach the Lions, and it is likely to show in his selections.

Whereas others have the freedom to plan with one eye on the longer term, O'Sullivan will feel obliged to not look beyond this tournament, no doubt impressing his employers with repeated talk of the importance of the Six Nations to Irish rugby while the players and supporters are left rueing a golden, if lost, opportunity on the World Cup stage that may never reappear.

Although O'Sullivan has little or no dialogue with his erstwhile assistant coach Declan Kidney - and the emergence of Matt Williams at Ulster will not serve to improve the unhelpful lack of communication with the provinces - he should be grateful for Munster's seemingly endless restorative powers post-World Cup.

Thus, when the squad came together in Killiney two weeks before their opening match against Italy, a dozen of their number will have been on a relative high.

Admittedly, not so the increased Leinster representation of 13 or those from Ulster or Connacht. Still, Munster's latest feat of escapology from their hardest Heineken Cup pool to date can only be a boon, not least in returning so many of the coach's frontline forwards and halfbacks in rejuvenated form. The likes of Marcus Horan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Denis Leamy, David Wallace and, most of all, Ronan O'Gara scarcely look like first cousins of the demoralised players congregated on the Parc des Princes sidelines circa September 30th.

So, Ireland should have the bones of a good pack and in-form halves, whether it be Peter Stringer or Eoin Reddan at number nine. Performances have not so obviously been revived elsewhere, however, and those that have progressed this season have, perhaps not coincidentally, been players left at home during the World Cup.

Whether the likes of Jamie Heaslip, Leo Cullen, Bernard Jackman and Tommy Bowe will all be rewarded in a much-changed side remains unlikely, however. Partially because of Denis Hickie's retirement - his decision to take a year's sabbatical and check out South American beaches now looks a stroke of genius, even if his loss to province and country appears acute - Bowe's consistently good form while all around him at Ulster have been losing theirs should merit promotion.

O'Sullivan's biggest concern will surely be the ongoing struggles of Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan, all the more so as Horgan's rib injury has left him hors de combat for the last month. There were flickers of life and some of the old twinkletoed magic in O'Driscoll's play against a second-string Ospreys, and some of his skills and decision-making in the home win over Toulouse were out of the top drawer.

He remains the best Irish player - pound for pound - of this or possibly any other generation and, at 29, the thought persists that class is permanent. He has looked overburdened by the dual captaincy of an underperforming province and country after what must have been a dispiriting World Cup to add to his Lions woes. Perhaps the Six Nations will reinvigorate him, for he clearly remains the coach's loyal lieutenant. We shall see.

O'Sullivan must fervently hope so, for so much of Ireland's game under him revolves around moving the ball to midfield and taking it from there. But when, in France, they and O'Gara didn't bail Ireland out of trouble and provide attacking catalysts, not to mention a maul that suddenly lost all its venom, Ireland looked devoid of inspiration and predictable against well-prepared defences (save for Manuel Contepomi's tendency to shoot out of defence and lose his footing).

Furthermore, any remotely viable alternatives - such as last season's Ireland A midfield partnership of Kieran Lewis and Barry Murphy - have been squeezed out by Munster's Kiwi axis.

O'Sullivan could, of course, look at Andrew Trimble there, but this would mean a radical shift in strategy to accommodate more of a straight-running type.

Ireland need to become less dependent on midfield gamebreakers, while developing rather than talking of a more ball-in-hand, offloading game - which was practically non-existent in France, as the statistics underline. A licence to counterattack - unforgivably non-existent in the way the wings barely jogged back to give Geordan Murphy options against Argentina while others were unprepared to react to his runs from deep - would be nice to see. Defensive malfunctions, as with Trimble designated to abandon his post against France, ought to be avoided.

What constitutes a good Six Nations for Ireland, or a face-saving one for the head coach? No doubt we'll be told that three home wins is the criterion. But should not Ireland be aiming higher than that? After all, France are in experimental mode, while England's World Cup was possibly even more of a blip, their coach effectively remaining on trial, and this year's is the itinerary that yielded two of those three Triple Crowns.

What if three scratchy home wins came with two demoralising, heavy defeats in Stade de France and Twickenham? In any case, the final verdict must partially depend on the performances and clear evidence that O'Sullivan and his coaches can still inspire these Irish players.

The One to Watch - Tony Buckley

Comparisons with John Hayes were inevitable once Shannon began unveiling the Cork-born man mountain three seasons ago, hardly surprising given the 6ft 5in, 21-stone tighthead prop was also a converted lock. To maintain the likeness, his scrummaging technique quickly came under severe scrutiny - little of it favourable - but he has made rapid strides in the last 12 months and Buckley now looks set to feature regularly on the bench in this year's Six Nations.

The son of a well-known Munster travel agent, Buckley was educated at Boherbui Comprehensive and then Newbridge College. He played lock on the Senior side for two Cup campaigns, reaching the Leinster Senior Cup semi-final in 1999, and represented Leinster Schools.

First breaking into the Munster squad in 2005-2006, albeit making just four appearances as a replacement, Buckley vanished off the radar for the first half of last season, his progress halted by a debilitating virus. This sidelined him until January and delayed his competitive debut for Munster until last February against the Borders. Considering that, his climb to the Ireland squad is a tribute to his remarkable powers of recovery and rapidly improving form as much as a reflection on the dearth of Irish props.

After a handful of Magners League starts, he was promoted to the Ireland squad for the summer tour to Argentina, winning his first two caps as a replacement for Bryan Young - with Simon Best switching from tighthead to loosehead - and performing impressively.

Indeed, he made an even bigger impression in training, so much so that he was apparently much closer to selection for the World Cup than was generally acknowledged.

This season he has gone from strength to strength, starting another half-dozen Magners League games and going on as a replacement for decent stints in place of Hayes in another six games.

The scrum has not suffered, and he showed an impressive turn of foot in the break-out and exchange of passes with Anthony Foley for the try away to Clermont that effectively and ultimately saw Munster squeeze through to the Heineken European Cup quarter-finals.

Significantly, Buckley's emergence has lessened the load on The Bull, who has been an overworked bulwark of Munster's and Ireland's pack for the last nine seasons.

With the unfortunate Best still sidelined, and despite only having made a dozen starts for Munster, the 27-year-old Buckley is the only viable alternative/cover at tighthead and he looks set to become a feature of the Ireland squad, if only as a replacement, throughout the tournament.

Just in the nick of time, it seems, Munster and Ireland may have an uncannily similar successor to Hayes.

Ireland Training Squad

• Forwards
  Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), Malcolm O'Kelly (St.Mary's College/Leinster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
• Backs
  Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster), Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Wasps), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)