IN THE END it was a 32-point losing margin, and Ireland had to dig deep to push their way off the dreaded zero that remained on the scoreboard for 68 minutes.
Beating New Zealand in this tournament, at this stage, was always going to be a mountainous task, but to be so thoroughly taken apart makes this one of the most galling of Ireland’s many World Cup quarter-final failures.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course, it’s less than a year since Jacob Stockdale scored at the Aviva as Ireland beat the world champions and Steve Hansen happily installed Ireland as the world’s number one team. From there, we were supposed to build, add to the gameplan, add to the depth chart and peak for a quarter-final against South Africa after ploughing through Pool A.
Instead, Ireland appeared to stagnate in the first half of 2019. England dismantled Joe Schmidt’s side at home and away, in the summer and winter.
Yet on they pressed, undeterred. The trust in 2018 methods was maintained and there was no deviation in course with the World Cup looming.
A thrashing of off-colour Scotland gave a sense that all was rosy in the garden. Until Ireland’s true 2019 form returned six days later when they were unable to last the pace with Japan’s inventive, high-tempo and high-skilled attack.
Ireland have no shortage of players possessing a strong ball-handling skill-set, but we have become accustomed to watching them keep a tight rein on such instincts and become restricted to a gameplan that grew tighter and tighter in recent years. And while a hint of an offloading game returned during that loss to Japan, it felt as hurried and panicked as you might expect from players using a skill they have rarely put into practice.
This morning, New Zealand beat Ireland out the gate with a vicious display of defence and clinical attacking. If Ireland had an answer, it was lost amid individual and collective errors, knock-ons and blind alleys.
The mood in the camp was confident all week, we were told. And those pushing relentless positivity espoused the view that a few Joe Schmidt specials – set moves so effective that they had to be kept under deep cover – could be easily tacked on to transform Ireland’s bull-dozing machine into something bold and new.
It proved to be magical thinking. The evidence in front of our eyes proved reliable. There was no solution produced out of thin air and no change in gear from a side that has struggled all year long.
On TV post-match Schmidt lamented that his team had been ‘glued together’ as players were carrying knocks during the week.
Knocks sustained in a clash with Samoa that should never have been crucial. Knocks that were kept secret until the moment after defeat, yet were not deemed serious enough to test depth in the squad. The depth Schmidt had four years to build after lamenting a spate of injuries that explained a quarter-final loss to Argentina.
Schmidt’s era will be remembered for its Six Nations successes, southern hemisphere exploits and two momentous landmark wins over New Zealand. But he was unable to break the mould in the World Cup.
When it comes to this tournament, for four more years Ireland must be defined by quarter-final failures against inventive and adventurous opponents.
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