The wounds from defeat, and how it came about, will take some time to heal, writes Brian O'Driscoll

This wasn't in the script, wasn't even contemplated during the week. There was tremendous intent going into the match to underline the quality in this Irish team. We honestly believed that a semi-final place was a possibility but that illusion was ruthlessly shattered in the first 20 minutes at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne yesterday.

The game was over before we managed a foothold, a combination of some excellent French play and our own shortcomings, particularly errors. We spoke about the importance of trying to get the first score before the match and instead it was France who had points on the board within two minutes.

When we huddled behind the posts, it was pointed out that we hadn't started our previous two matches particularly well and that there was no need to panic. Little did we know that by the interval, the only thing left to play for was pride and even that seems a bit hollow despite a significant improvement in the second half.

France hit hard, disrupted our set-piece play extensively and stretched us from one side of the pitch to the other. We couldn't, and certainly didn't, hold onto the ball for long enough and each error was ruthlessly punished.

Frederic Michalak had a superb day with the boot, one of those matches where you just know he's not going to miss anything.

They scored three tries in the first half and to be honest it could have been more; it's a slightly surreal feeling to play in one of the most important matches of anyone's career and feel completely powerless.

At half-time Eddie O'Sullivan completely changed the game plan.

He told us to take it wide at every opportunity. Obviously taking it through the middle had been a pretty fruitless exercise on the day. It did allow us to acquit ourselves a little bit better and was reflected on the scoreboard.

On a personal level I wouldn't put too much store in grabbing a couple of tries. On any other occasion I would have been delighted but as I walked off the pitch, there was nothing but a numbing sensation of acute disappointment. The tries themselves were relatively straightforward. Humphs (David Humphreys) called the move for the little chip through; it's something that we have practised often in training.

In fairness the weight on the kick was perfect, although it did take an age to settle before having a nasty sting in the tail when the ball kicked up sharply on the final bounce. I was pretty confident it would be awarded and just relieved when it was.

The second was a product of good work by others and my own tunnel vision. I didn't realise that I had two players outside me so in the end I was a relieved man to have squirmed over. I anticipated the gang tackle and just about had the presence of mind to pivot and force the ball down. These moments didn't really matter and I'd have swapped them for a one-point margin, winning ugly.

It's important to point out that Ireland's best try was scored by my old midfield buddy, (Kevin) Maggsie. He ran a great line on the cutback and displayed some decent toe to make it to the line, managing a big hand-off on Aurelien Rougerie in the process.

France though would claim, and rightfully so, that they had the match won by the time we started breaching their defence and had also emptied a large proportion of their bench by that stage. Their coach, Bernard Laporte, sensibly withdrew several of their big hitters to save them for another day.

France were clinical in everything they did, sharper and bossed the set-pieces. They were extremely well drilled and typically when encouraged to counterattack from turnovers or mistakes exacted the ultimate revenge.

I didn't think they had the potential to win the World Cup before this match but having faced them I have definitely revised that opinion. They played very well even allowing for our mistakes.

In looking at our own situation now that we are out of the tournament, we didn't achieve our goal of reaching a semi-final but we did produce some big performances. We have definitely come on as a team. Eddie (O'Sullivan) has done a superb job in taking us forward as we are better prepared and organised. The last 18 months have seen this squad move forward and it is with reasonable optimism we can look forward to the Six Nations Championship. Sadly we'll have to do so without Keith Wood and that's definitely one thing that hurts about yesterday's performance.

Woodie deserved a better send-off than that. He has been a magnificent servant to Irish rugby and we would have loved to provide him with an appropriate swansong.

I don't know who'll win the World Cup. It seems a bit trite to suggest that it could be any of the four teams but that really sums it up. They all have their qualities, all capable of beating each other on a given day. It's no harm that for the first time in its history the tournament finds itself in those circumstances.

It's not so much losing that grates, it's the manner in which we lost and it will take a little while to get over that. In a fortnight's time it'll be a different jersey (Leinster) and a new competition or two and hopefully the chance to exact a little revenge down the line.