The sight of a bruised and battered Ireland team taken their leave of the Rugby World Cup after their drubbing by Argentina on Sunday underlined once again that when it comes to stepping up to the plate in the stifling pressure of World Cup knockout games, the current team is as ill-equipped as any of its predecessors.
The back-to-back Six Nations champions went to the World Cup knowing that they would be judged by whether they could become the first Irish side to reach the last four of the competition. That they failed to do so would be acceptable if they went out of the tournament with a performance expected of Europe’s top team. Instead, Irish supporters and neutrals witnessed another northern hemisphere side being disappointed by an Argentina side that embodied every positive aspect of the game of rugby.
While the loss of injured players like Paul O’Connell, Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony was quite significant, it should not be used as the reason Ireland lost for the sixth time in a quarter-final. The sublime all round skills of Argentina, developed in the Rugby Championship against other hugely talented sides like New Zealand and Australia, illustrated the sterility of Six Nations rugby and how winning that title is more important to coaches and unions than planning for World Cup success.
Everything was in Ireland’s favour for this World Cup: the proximity of the location, the confidence from winning the Six nations two years in a row, the benefit of playing before what was effectively a home crowd in all five games and the guidance one of the best coaches in the game. Yet apart from the superb second half display against France, when Johnny Sexton, Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony, were all off the pitch through injury, the displays have been somewhat underwhelming and one dimensional.
The hype that goes with every Irish team that competes in world cups, whether in soccer or rugby, leads inevitably to misplaced optimism when the tournament comes around. Nobody knows this better than Joe Schmidt but when he pores over the videos in the coming weeks and months, it shouldn’t take him too long to realise that if Ireland wants success at the highest level of the game a mindset change will be required at all levels for that to be achieved.
What Irish supporter or union official would be willing to sacrifice short term failure at the Six Nations over a four or five year spell to develop the skills required for progress beyond a World Cup quarter-final? Not too many would be the smart answer.