Vanquished O'Sullivan heaps compliments on 'best team in world'

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan ran out of superlatives to describe the All Blacks, who face the luxury of making up to 12 changes to field their top 15 in next weekend's crunch rugby match against England.

"Sublime" and "phenomenal" were two of O'Sullivan's choice adjectives after what was largely the All Blacks' second XV demolished Ireland yesterday.

The scary part for England is that only Richie McCaw, Ali Williams and Tony Woodcock from that starting XV are certainties to start at Twickenham for phase three of the Grand Slam bid.

Aaron Mauger is likely after a slick performance, but not certain as the Tana Umaga-Conrad Smith midfield combination could be plumped for, while hooker Keven Mealamu and halfback Piri Weepu could be seen as impact players behind Anton Oliver and Byron Kelleher.

Then there are the wingers, with Sitiveni Sivivatu and Doug Howlett crying out "don't forget us" with two tries apiece, just as Joe Rokocoko and Rico Gear looked set as the top combination.

While the secondary goal of achieving the Grand Slam is now at microscopic odds, phase one looks assured - two players developed in each position of international standard.

"We said coming into this game that New Zealand were the best team in the world and they've reinforced that again," O'Sullivan said.

"It's a timely reminder for everybody where they are at the moment. The problem is, they'd like to play the World Cup in the morning but it ain't going to happen for two years. It's not a bad problem to have.

"We played the best team in the world and we got well beaten. They were sublime on the day, they made very few errors, and were a notch up again on last week."

O'Sullivan pronounced his team "punch-drunk" at halftime after the All Blacks dominated possession.

And he got the final word: "The good news is they can only put 15 out at a time, which is a help."

- NZPA