Moment of truth arrives for O'Sullivan

Not a lot of people know this, as someone once said, but Paul Newman had to wait 25 years between The Hustler and The Color of Money before winning his first Oscar as Fast Eddie Felson. Ireland's new coach qualifies as Fast Eddie O'Sullivan by his rapid-fire speech and ready wit alone and, like Newman, he has bided his time for "the job he always wanted".

A suspicion lingered around O'Sullivan's appointment in December, like dust wafting from a cube of chalk in Newman's cue hand. When Warren Gatland unexpectedly vacated the job, the bar room whisper was that O'Sullivan had hustled his promotion from assistant coach in much the same way as Newman's pool shark went about his business.

But the rumour mill also suggested that O'Sullivan was at least as responsible as his predecessor for transforming a team of forwards and no backs into one that is no longer backwards in coming forward. And the fact is that the 43-year-old from Galway has served an apprenticeship as teacher, player and coach every bit as long as Newman's wait for an Academy Award.

O'Sullivan became Gatland's right-hand man in the wake of the dispiriting World Cup play-off defeat by Argentina in October 1999. Together, they plotted a new course after an arguably even more abject (and certainly heavier) defeat, 50-18 by England in the opening match of the 2000 Six Nations.

"I think that was probably the watershed," O'Sullivan said last week as he laid final preparations for his first match in charge, at home to Wales next Sunday.

"We changed the way we played the game, a different style of rugby. More with the ball in hand, and giving the ball to the backs as much as possible. A lot of young faces came in: Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara got their first caps. We had the players in Ireland to play that style of game. I thought it was the best way to go then, to take a chance."

The proof of the pudding was in last year's elongated Six Nations. Ireland won four matches out of five, and lost the championship to England only on points difference. Of Ireland's 12 tries only the last – by Keith Wood in October's red-letter victory over the English – was scored by a forward. "You like to think that you're establishing a style of rugby that's synonymous with your team," said O'Sullivan. "It's no more than England have done. There's a style about English rugby, and it's probably the envy of a lot of other countries."

O'Sullivan played junior rugby as a fly-half, switched to wing when he joined Garryowen where Tony Ward was the No 10, and represented Munster and Ireland B – "the 'B' gives away my age," he chuckles. While making his way as a teacher of maths, science and PE, he had stints coaching Blackrock College, Connacht and Ireland Under-21 – among his charges were current internationals O'Gara, Malcolm O'Kelly, Eric Miller, Kieron Dawson, Denis Hickie and Girvan Dempsey.

But they were the amateur days, and when open rugby came along in 1995, O'Sullivan was faced with a choice. "Connacht offered me a one-year contract," he said, "but I was teaching in Co Galway, at Holy Rosary College, a co-ed convent. I just felt I needed more than a one-year contract to do it." The bird in the hand turned out to be a three-year stint with the USA Rugby Union as both technical director – in other words, coaching the coaches – and forwards coach to the national side. Although O'Sullivan had coached Buccaneers during the American winter break, it was the 1999 World Cup, when the Eagles were in Ireland's group, that thrust him back centre stage in his homeland.

Now O'Sullivan has inherited a team who, last time out, flattered to deceive in losing 40-28 to the All Blacks. "We only played for 45 minutes, and didn't defend very well for the full 80," he said.

"Attacking wise, we have to become more clinical and more structured in what we're doing, without taking away the individual flair and decision-making of the players. We all know what Brian O'Driscoll is good at – ball in hand, running at defences, he causes mayhem.

"If your structure or your pattern is well designed it will give your players the opportunity to perform the things they're good at." O'Driscoll's centre partner and fellow Lion, Rob Henderson, will be doing what he's good at in the A team next week, having failed to convince O'Sullivan of his full recovery from injury.

O'Sullivan's assistants, Declan Kidney and Niall O'Donovan, and captain, Wood, are all Munster men. O'Sullivan and Wood talk on the phone almost every day. But the concern over defence has brought in an outsider – Mike Ford, latterly a rugby league coach at Oldham. Ford has a six-month contract and O'Sullivan, likewise, says next year's World Cup is not uppermost in his mind.

"The most important thing for Ireland right now is the Six Nations' Championship," he said. "I'll be judged as a coach on that." At home in Moylough, a tiny village in Co Galway, O'Sullivan's kids Katie and Barry, and friends will be "hanging on the TV" next Sunday. "I've always wanted this job," he said, "and now I'm here I'll give it my best shot. Hopefully I'll get the rub of the green along the way."