Victory over South Africa a sign of how far team has come Sometimes it isn't how big, fast and strong you are. Sometimes it is about knowing what to do and when to do it.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney must be aware that there is a gap, in historical and philosophical terms, between the way Munster and Leinster players hammer nails into a coffin.

When Kidney rose to the Ireland throne Paul O'Connell spoke about going back to basics, about renewing faith in the Munster way, in the need to play confrontational rugby, to draw a line in the grass that the opposition must not pass.

BLEND

He referred to what he saw as Eddie O'Sullivan's preoccupation with going around defences rather than through them. It was clearly a clash of cultures, the technical, beautiful running lines of Leinster's quick men against Munster's forward-focused, down to earth, one inch at a time grinding out of yards.

Of course, the secret to success is to mix and match, to blend one into the other so Ireland can move fluently between the two styles of rugby in response to the specific challenges thrown down by their opponents.

Kidney - who was named IRB Coach of the Year yesterday - secured the Grand Slam on a basic game plan akin to that of Munster, with out-half Ronan O'Gara at the hub and scrum-half Tomas O'Leary as the link between him and the forwards.

Since then he has promoted competition for game time in a sublimely understated manner, showing, through his selections of Cian Healy, Jonathan Sexton and Sean O'Brien, that he is determined to deliver greater depth.

For all of O'Leary's ingenuity -- he seeks out contact like a front five forward -- he is made out of Munster mettle. He is a product of that unyielding attitude to the gain line, and the try line, especially from five metres out.

This low risk battle of bodies was never likely to work against the brutal power of the Springboks. On Saturday there were so many times when the Irish forwards preferred to rely on what worked against England and Wales last season. They are programmed to smash around the corners for that vital last few metres.

O'Leary did not take a peek at what was obvious to those on the sidelines. There was space to exploit in the wider channels. This time Ireland escaped with their 11-match unbeaten run intact when Brian O'Driscoll emptied his bank of energy and aggression on Zane Kirchner in the final act of their third straight win over South Africa in Dublin.

It was enough for hooker Jerry Flannery to point at Ireland's continuing pursuit of development in their long run-in to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

"It would have tarnished the Grand Slam had we shown up this autumn and had a poor series," said the Shannon tornado.

The nightmare scenario from the last RWC will only be truly purged when Ireland emerge from their pool and make an impact in the latter stages of the next competition.

"We've come a long way and I take satisfaction from the way things haven't dropped off after the Grand Slam," echoed Flannery, backing O'Connell's call to "kick on" from last season.

"I was worried that might happen but the players and management took steps to ensure it didn't. We wanted to test ourselves against South Africa to see how we are progressing as a team.

"This win is a big lift for us because we have massive respect for the Springboks. They're an awesome side.

"We're still no world-beaters but we've progressed from the Six Nations. We're proud of what we've achieved. It's important we keep progressing as a team and I think we're doing that," claimed Flannery.

For Kidney it is all about the process of improvement and the progress Ireland are making in results and performances. He has opted to trust the players to move the ball where and when they decide it is prudent to do so.

In that sense he has moved away from the percentage control of Munster's O'Gara to the natural inclination of Leinster's Sexton to look left or right before he looks downfield.

The inexperience of Sexton showed up in his refusal to ping the corners in the last 10 minutes -- his fifth penalty made it 15-10 in the 65th minute -- to ask South Africa to do what is not in their nature, to counter from deep. He will have to learn from O'Gara.

PRESSURE

The Ireland captain, Brian O'Driscoll, is situated two positions too far from the action to get involved in the decision-making between the forward eight and the scrum-half. At times he must have been screaming for the ball in the din of Croke Park.

He couldn't take part in the split- second choice that must be taken under the pressure of muscle crashing into mass around the fringes of ruck and maul. This was between O'Leary and the big men.

If Leinster's Eoin Reddan had been playing for Ireland in the second half he would have given the forwards their heads for four or five phases and then whipped the ball away into space, especially in one glaring example where there were 13 Springboks crammed into 20 metres of space along their own goal line.

Sometimes it can be more profitable to avoid confrontation. Sometimes you have to feed the fast men. Ireland were in the enviable position of being able to beat South Africa without a try.

It gives them so much more to work on in attack. It gives O'Leary the assignment to learn when to spin it to win it.

- Des Berry