Hubris. Now there’s a word I really like, with its hint of a serpent’s hiss at the end offset by the near certainty that the slithery one is in for a nasty surprise.

If Ireland are to regroup and successfully renew their World Cup campaign after Friday’s humiliation, Marco Tardelli might be the man to get the players to put it behind them.

THEY’LL talk the talk with Bill O’Herlihy on Saturday night, but John Giles and Eamon Dunphy walked the walk for Ireland the last time Italy played for points in Dublin.