RUGBY:Ireland's travails with Namibia didn't exactly register prominently in French newspapers, perhaps because of the late Sunday kick-off and because they have their own ongoing post-mortem into France's defeat to Argentina. But those that did deal with the Ireland game were seemingly as nonplussed as ourselves.

Under the heading L'Irlande ne repond plus - which effectively means "Ireland don't come up to standard" - the writer asked, "What's happening with the Irish? The impressions of the August matches were borne out yesterday against the Namibians, whom they had beaten 64-7 in 2003.

"A total loss of confidence, feverish as a team of juniors, the Irish again gave a performance unworthy of both their standing and their pretensions against Namibians with refreshing desire and proved that the 'Third World' of rugby are entitled to inclusion in this world competition."

The writer describes how Ireland went 15 points up inside 19 minutes and goes on, "But afterwards it was simply a collection of mistakes and inaccuracies: missed penalties to touch, slow release of ball, passes into space."

L'Équipe in its player ratings had Denis Leamy best on 6.5, followed by John Hayes on 6. Rated lowest were Girvan Dempsey (4.5), Gordon D'Arcy (4.5), Ronan O'Gara (4.5) and Peter Stringer (3).

Under the heading Peur bleue pour les Verts (Blue fear for the Greens) the bi-weekly Midi Olympique said that having secured their bonus point in the 47th minute, "the Irish, who had played with width in the first half, then became gripped by fear. The Namibians, physically very focused, came back into the game to the extent of scoring two tries in four minutes, which caused Chaban-Dalmas to explode . . . The spectators showed their appreciation, as they should, to these outsiders who with a truly more competitive scrum could have become legends."