So Wales lost another game of rugby. Big deal. It's not the first time it has happened and it won't be the last.

But the way both the Press and public are carrying on you would think it was the end of the world and not a loss to an Irish side who were being touted as possible winners of the Six Nations.

Yes, it was a dreadful performance and yes, it was against Ireland, a side we expected to beat.

But the reaction following the game has blown the defeat out of all proportion.

Some of the comments, opinions and rantings heard in Cardiff went to the edge of reason and boardered on the ridiculous. Yet we shouldnt be surprised. Its typical of the knee-jerk reaction to every Wales defeat.

One bad game and the whole of Welsh rugby is in chaos, the entire system needs an overhaul and people are suggesting Graham Henry should consider his position.

This is the same Graham Henry who was labelled 'The Great Redeemer' following defeats of South Africa and England. The same Grahan Henry whose side won back-to-back tests against France and then became the first Northern Hemisphere side to win in Argentina.

And the same Graham Henry who has been vaunted as a possible future All Blacks coach. When Henry took over after a 96-13 defeat to South Africa the side was in chaos, real chaos and, no matter what you thought of Saturdays game, that has changed.

It must be remembered that against Ireland, Wales were playing for second spot in the Six Nations, our highest position for seven years.

That we failed was as much to do with the quality of the current Irish side as it was to do with the inept performance of the Welsh team.

The buck for Saturdays poor showing does ultimately stop with the coach, but Henry cant make the first-up tackles that were missed or catch the passes that were dropped.

The players must take the reponsibility.

And maybe it is here that we get to the real problem.

The attacks on Henry come from the usual former internationals whose damaged egos and slighted pride cant cope with the fact that when it comes down to it, the Welsh side just are not as good as we want them to be.

From their point of view the coach must be to blame because the players never could be. What utter rubbish!

Henrys job was about rehabilitation when he came in, and statistics show Wales now win 70% of their internationals compared to 50% for the era immediately before Henry arrived.

By and large he has turned the side around from an embarrasment to one which can play.

But he is now in the same position as Alan Davies was in 1994. He must try to take these players to the next level and, like Davies and Kevin Bowring before him, if he fails he will go.

But the outpouring of outrage is masking something else, the inability of the old guard to accept that Ireland are better than Wales at the moment.

As far as the Welsh side goes, they currently rely on two players to see them through - Scott Quinnell, who missed Saturday's encounter, and Rob Howley.

The attacks following the game were not constructive because Henry is doing the best he can with the players he has to work with. And that is the real worry for Welsh rugby at the moment.