Ok, it was actually Risteard Cooper doing their voices, but I still got a bit of a going over. "I have the best team in the world, " said Mourinho, "the team you play for is useless, D'Arcy. But maybe I buy you. Maybe I go on ebay and bid for you with my loose change." That was the mild stuff. "It was terrible losing in Paris, wasn't it?" Roy said to me.

"Did you have something on your mind? Maybe a haircut appointment?"

It was all in aid of the Barretstown Fun Day so I took the banter on the chin, and the funny thing was, Roy probably had a point about my hair. I got it chopped for the first time in eight months on Thursday and it was badly needed. The only surprise for me was that it took just half an hour because I'd set aside a lot longer than that. The haircut, combined with a couple of days lounging on the coach, and the fantastic Strokes gig on Monday night, were my social highlights since we returned from Paris.

The week after that French game, we broke up from camp on Tuesday and I did some training on the Wednesday and Thursday, and as a result I was able to take the Friday, Saturday and Sunday completely off. It was a great feeling to get off my feet for a few days, particularly because I had a slight nerve problem in my lower back, but that's all sorted now thanks to a little rest. The little break seemed to help everybody because we had three very intense sessions this week.

The sessions were sharp and tough and, most importantly, they didn't drag on for too long.

We recognised after the French game that we needed to step up what we did in training to ensure everything we did was up to match standard, and I really feel we achieved that this week. We also had to absorb the lessons from Paris. In the first 35 to 40 minutes France put us under an awful lot of pressure, and rather than try to soak it up, we tried to pull a rabbit out of a hat every time we had the ball.

Instead of doing the simple things well and being patient, we tried to do too much, and that is basically what we've learned from that crazy game.

Personally, I was happy with bits and pieces of my game, particularly my defence. Unlike the Italy game, I didn't miss any tackles, so that was something positive to build on. But looking back on the game, I would have preferred to get my hands on the ball a lot earlier. It took about 25 minutes for me to make my first break in that particular game and I'll be looking to do that a lot earlier this afternoon.

It hasn't been easy trying to ignore what's been going on in the Welsh camp, but the feeling throughout the squad is that if we're obsessed with what's been happening with them, we can't be fully focused on what we need to do. I was interested, though, to see their centre combination when it was announced. I never really felt that Gavin Henson was going to play, mainly because he hasn't had enough game time, and I've been studying Hal Luscombe and Matthew Watkins very closely over the past few days. I've played against both of those guys before and they're extremely good players; Watkins has quick feet and is strong on the ball, while Luscombe has speed to burn. All in all they've got a good balance in that particular area.

As for ourselves, Paul O'Connell is a huge loss.

He's an immense player, but at least we don't have a novice coming into the starting line-up. We have Donncha O'Callaghan, a test Lion. You can't really ask for a better replacement than that. As for Tommy Bowe, things didn't click for him in the French game, but that is something I can relate to.

For about 18 months until the start of this season things weren't going right for me, and it happens to everybody at some point in their career. He'll be back, no doubt about that, but it's nice to see Andrew Trimble in there too.

It is looking like the weather's not going to help us today. It's going to be cold, windy and probably wet, just in case the other two aren't enough. It is always tough in those conditions, but you just have to adapt. That's one thing we've learned over the past two games; we have to be able to change tactics on the field a lot quicker. We've got to be cuter about things and solve problems as they happen. Starting today.