Ireland in crisis: Eddie O'Sullivan clings to the mantra that Ireland were drawn in the "pool of death" and that, well, it was always going to come down to the last game against Argentina. What's more, his employers and everybody else knew this.

Oh well then, everything's just where we imagined it would be.

If it comes to pass that the three wise men (Neilly Jackson, Pat Whelan and Noel Murphy) and their three helpers (Eddie Wigglesworth, John Hussey and Philip Browne) run for cover and pretend that Ireland played anywhere remotely near their potential and that what looks already like a lamentable failure of a campaign was merely the consequences of being drawn in a tough pool, then O'Sullivan will be right again.

In the minds of the IRFU's wise men, there shall be no consequences for failure. Such a comfort zone, or lack of incentive/penalty for failure, was also transmitted to the squad in the planning and selection process.

Now, even O'Sullivan's own self-confidence looks shot to pieces. His cast-iron assumptions having been cast to the wind, the man with his hands on the tiller (and no-one else has in this unhealthy one-man show) looks utterly bemused and incapable of knowing what to do. His first XV - themselves cast in stone from March 17th - came up so short against Namibia that his response was to play them all again against Georgia.

No remedial action having been taken then, and few remedies - and two of them misguided - having been applied against France, surgery is required if Ireland are to beat Argentina by scoring four tries and win by more than seven points.

To compound the team's woes is Ronan O'Gara's mindset, born out of a country's thirst for rumours that, of late, has turned a spark into a wildly out-of-control bushfire.

Like many others, he is not playing to the level of last season. How much the events of last week contributed to his clearly emotional state during the anthems, his shanked first kick and another mixed bag of a performance, only he knows for sure.

O'Gara's mental well-being has become an even bigger management issue, and Ciarán Fitzgerald, for one, believes the player should be rested for his own good. But the options are not plentiful, in part because of the way David Humphreys was used (or not used) up to his retirement a year and a half ago, and indeed one wonders how much the latter's presence might have benefited O'Gara of late. Furthermore, O'Gara has proven himself a tough, resolute sort before - think back to the storm prior to his winning performance for Munster against Leicester in Welford Road last October.

Only one of the 20 participating countries left six players idle in the opening three rounds. No prizes for guessing who that was. Of all the 20 head coaches the only one who doesn't believe in the concept of squad rotation or impact replacements is O'Sullivan. Dropping Peter Stringer, Denis Hickie and Geordan Murphy (191 Tests and 268 points) to the stands in favour of a trio of backs with 22 caps and 71 points was another lamentable failure in selection.

In contrast to Argentina, who are clearly having a ball and are actually enjoying playing in a World Cup, Ireland look joyless, overtrained, chronically short of confidence and with a divided squad.

The head coach, the skills coach and even the players responded to handling failures by talking of "forcing the pass" and needing to seek contact and the ground more often, whereas nearly every other frontline team puts an offload not going to hand down to experience and carries on regardless.

Fearful of making mistakes, everyone bar Brian O'Driscoll seems unwilling or unable to take chances. It is true the Northern Hemisphere sides came in a little undercooked, but the likes of Wales and France have rediscovered their higher-tempo, offloading game. Even Argentina gave Ireland a tacit lesson in how to dissect the Namibians - as they had done against Georgia - with an emphasis on keeping the ball alive and a high tempo.

Ireland's running game lacks depth, support, width, counterattacking and spontaneity. The ball rarely reaches the wings and the fullback never hits the line.

Yes, the "pool of death" might have come down to Argentina v Ireland in Parc des Princes on September 30th. But not necessarily with Ireland having luckily edged past Georgia and being beaten with sad predictability by an initially jittery French side under even more pressure - and hence with Ireland requiring a bonus-point win while denying Argentina one in defeat.

This is compounded by a muddled selection policy and a brand of rugby almost devoid of risk-taking because the players' confidence is utterly shot. If there is any squad spirit left, it is in spite of, not because of, the way they have been managed.

This game surely requires a strike runner and counterattacker at fullback - ie, Murphy - or at least the option of one on the bench, even though Girvan Dempsey has, as ever, been exceptionally reliable and consistent.

Ireland now really will have to employ a high-risk strategy, and only fresh blood can provide it, but they will have to do so with or without the only openside in the squad, who arrived here unfit and injured and has played all three games. Had they been here - but of course they aren't - there would have been a compelling argument for playing Keith Gleeson and Jamie Heaslip.

Ireland need a "miracle match", but given their current condition, even the prize for a miracle - a quarter-final against the All Blacks - is perhaps best avoided.

At least the Munster-bound Doug Howlett is on fire. Any other positives for Irish rugby on a postcard, please. Or more likely on the back of a postage stamp.