Job done for Ireland but November echoes a worry

November Ireland reared its ugly head against Wales on Saturday.

For a long spell in the middle of the 27-18 win, one couldn't but be reminded of Ireland's Autumn Nation Series labours.

Passes weren't sticking, kicks went astray, mistakes abounded. They were disjointed in defence and it wasn't immediately apparent why.

Whereas in November, the lineout malfunctioned, on Saturday it was the scrum that was causing problems; four first-half penalties conceded allowing Wales to exit far too easily.

Yes, Wales were good, very good, but, like the loss to New Zealand and the unconvincing wins over Argentina and Australia, the Six Nations champions didn't look themselves.

The team that won a Grand Slam, beat the world champions three times in the last four years and hammered France in Marseille were nowhere to be seen.

This time, however, Ireland dug themselves out of a hole and secured four precious points but on some level it felt like a moral defeat.

Yes, there are positives to be taken from it but it was noticeable that Simon Easterby didn't hang around long on those in his first answer in the post-match press conference.

"They'll be sitting in the changing room not celebrating this victory," said former Ireland back row Stephen Ferris on RTÉ.

"They'll be going, 'okay, we got the job done but that's just not good enough to go on and win this championship'."

Wales had more possession (57%) and territory (51%), and they didn't kick away the ball needlessly, reckoning the less opportunity Ireland's talented backs had, the better for them.

Matt Sherratt's side also made more metres, 770 to 503, with the ball in hand and had seven linebreaks to Ireland's two.

The new defence set-up at Leinster and, by extension, Ireland, means a certain