Seven years ago, Brian O'Driscoll shone as Ireland defeated the reigning world champions Australia on a day when all three southern hemisphere super powers were beaten.

The stand-in captain spoke of how the result would give his side renewed belief and self-confidence; they had already prevented England winning a Grand Slam while O'Driscoll's seminal hat-trick had plucked a once-in-a-generation success from Paris.

Sadly, the confidence and self-belief O'Driscoll spoke of was not enough when they travelled to the World Cup a year later. Australia sneaked the return by the narrow width of a David Humphreys kick and, sated with their heroics, mute Ireland were humiliated in the quarter-finals by France.

England were to become the northern hemisphere's first holders of the William Webb Ellis trophy. Less than a year later, Ireland would upset the world champions once more, Girvan Dempsey's try in the corner of Twickenham setting the seal on what was then the limit of Irish ambitions, a first Triple Crown in 19 years.

Ireland also scored notable home victories against South Africa and Australia -- never New Zealand -- but "the best prepared squad ever" entered the next World Cup hampered by a desperate year-long loss of form, a glaring lack of depth and a cack-handed warm-up schedule. Their meek exit at the pool stages was a sad inevitability.

While a surfeit of humility had undone Ireland's underdeveloped 2003 World Cup challenge, hubris imploded their blithely arrogant approach to the 2007 competition.

It is perhaps too early to judge what will happen in 2011 but one thing is certain -- neither humility nor hubris will undo the challenge.

"It has come on a good bit," says hooker Jerry Flannery, eager to maintain the collective balance in which the squad and management honestly assess strengths and weaknesses.

"The thing I take personal satisfaction is, coming from the Grand Slam, I was afraid that things might drop off. The management and I suppose the players as well, it's pretty much driven from within the squad, we've been trying to make steps.

"We are still nowhere near any kind of world-beaters or anything like that but we have progressed from the Six Nations. It would have slightly tarnished the Grand Slam if we had turned up this autumn and had a poor Series.

"It's been a good autumn. If I am completely honest, I think most of the squad after the Australian game, when we came into the dressing-room, you would think that if you've scored in the last minute and drawn a game you were losing, you'd be happy.

"But I think the majority of us felt there was more for us in that game. We were at around 80pc when we could have got a big scalp there. Sure, we got the draw and you remain unbeaten but you were a little bit disappointed with that.

"Fiji was a mixed bag. It was a difficult night. We got a win and we got some new lads on the field. South Africa has been a good result. It's important we keep progressing as a team and I think we've done that."

ruthless

Flannery's points cover a decent amount of November post-mortem territory. At a World Cup, or indeed in any of the pre-World Cup southern hemisphere tests, Ireland will need to acquire the ruthless accuracy to see off the big three when they are only at "80pc".

Ireland didn't always look as if they were clinical enough to cross the line once planted in the opposition 22 and the leading squad members are aware that South Africa's appalling kicking from hand and tee let them off the hook.

The middle match of the November series against Fiji allowed Ireland to blood further players such as Jonathan Sexton, Sean O'Brien and Sean Cronin. Along with Cian Healy, who played against Australia and South Africa, these represent just four of the 10 or more seasoned internationals Ireland will require to launch a realistic 2011 World Cup challenge.

Ireland's use of the squad during the past two World Cup campaigns derived from a lack of trust in developing options beneath a cosseted selection of first-choice players; Ireland's maturity now will negate such a damaging situation occurring ever again.

From a position where Ronan O'Gara threw a strop when a selection panel had the gall to rotate him, his touchline smiles as Sexton smacked over his fifth penalty on Saturday portrayed the new realisation of the honest collective.

Last weekend also reminded us that in Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, David Wallace et al, Ireland will have a hardened (think Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson, Neil Back) pack who can match any team's physicality once the current scrum and maul difficulties are eroded.

One can visualise Ireland doing a number on New Zealand next year -- Boylesports rate them odds-on to do so at home. Winning away, a la England's seminal '03 success in Wellington, is also a more tangible goal than ever before.

Aside from the hardened pack, they are backed up, as last summer's Lions selection team acknowledged, by a collection of the finest backs assembled in one country at the moment -- Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Paddy Wallace, Tommy Bowe -- with Felix Jones, Fergus McFadden and Darren Cave also emerging.

complete

Gert Smal's pillaging of Afrikaans line-out calls reminds us that Ireland have undoubtedly collected the most complete brains trust in world rugby, although one would reiterate that there is a dearth of scrummaging coaches being deployed throughout the country.

Frailties still exist within the Irish squad but sights are set more realistically than ever before on ascending the next step of development; winning away in the southern hemisphere against a big-three side, as well as finally trumping the historic mental obstruction presented by the All Blacks.

Because that is what they will need to do to correct the damning statistic that still places Ireland alone amongst the Home Unions in never before reaching a semi-final since the inception of the World Cup in 1987.

All the while, amidst the national optimism regarding one of the country's few positive news stories, a sense of realism is also required; hence Declan Kidney's regular sermons upon enjoying the present.

The future may not exist yet but present developments constantly inform it. That is why D'Arcy spoke last month of that pressing need to win in New Zealand next summer: "We have one eye on the World Cup and we have to win there."

Such talk has been cheap in the past. However, Ireland have banked enough credit in the past wonderful year to ensure that they can go closer than ever before to cashing in.

- David Kelly

Irish Independent