RUGBY:For Denis Leamy, who admitted afterwards to a "reckless" stamp, the wait until the 48-hour time limit for match citings continues.

But for Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan especially, the rest of the Irish management, the IRFU, the Irish team (let's not do the rest a disservice by calling it a squad anymore) and Irish rugby dodged not so much a bullet as a grenade in Bordeaux on Saturday night.

Had Georgia shown a little more composure - or Leamy not positioned his body under the ball - when rumbling over the Irish line in the 77th minute, they would have recorded the biggest shock in the history of the World Cup, and Ireland would have suffered the worst defeat in their much longer history.

At least in Lens, in 1999, a lesser Irish side had lost to a quality Argentinian team on the cusp of breaking into the game's elite tier. All things being equal, history will judge this a far worse performance.

Even so, the consequence of not emulating Argentina in securing a bonus-point win four days earlier against the world's 17th-ranked team could still be immense. From the frying pan to the fire, Ireland take the TGV to Paris on Wednesday for the pivotal meeting with France next Friday night, and failure to obtain at least a bonus point would likely leave Ireland needing to beat Argentina with a four-try bonus point in Parc des Princes on September 30th.

Admittedly an unlikely victory, plucked from adversity and seemingly zero belief or strategy, over France would put Ireland through and eliminate the hosts, while still leaving Ireland with every chance of topping the pool.

But if Ireland don't finish within seven points of France (who beat Namibia 87-10 last night) the pool finale against the Pumas could virtually be a dead rubber.

Something, or more likely various things, have gone chronically wrong with this Irish team. Physically they were wilting on Saturday. They have been consistently coming off worse in the collisions. Their body language betrays a lack of mental belief. Their clearing out is sloppy. The backs' lines of running are poor and severely lacking in variety. The offloading and support play are dreadful. The kicking is loose and often aimless. The counter-attacking is non-existent. Most worryingly of all, the coaching staff seem not to realise or understand what has gone wrong.

"I don't have a magic answer," admitted a forlorn-looking O'Sullivan yesterday. "I wouldn't say it's mission impossible in Paris. It will be a hard job; we have a big mountain to climb. They felt a bit better about this game because we played better rugby but we still turned the ball over.

"I'm not sure as to why we are making these mistakes. We haven't made them before. We have held on to the ball better. I think there's an element of nervousness and trepidation. They are trying to improve on that but it's not that easy."

The palpable anxiety in Ireland's play, regularly conceded by players afterwards, is of course in part a challenge for the coach and his staff.

France, like mighty Georgia, have picked 26 players in their starting line-ups whereas Ireland have picked 16. If Leamy is not cited, that tally may merely rise by one, with Jerry Flannery's return to the starting line-up - like his telling introduction in the 52nd minute on Saturday night - in large part down to Rory Best suffering a dislocated finger.

O'Sullivan's selection, eh, strategy - even more constrained than four years ago and replicating the tour to New Zealand and Australia last summer - has given him few or no options.

If it comes to pass that somehow Ireland rediscover themselves and beat France and Argentina, they'll probably be flogged by the quarter-finals, although even that already looks a long shot at this stage.