Decades of neglect left World Cup bid with too much ground to make up

Well, we got our backsides handed to us, and then some.

Reading the full technical report into Ireland’s bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023, it is a hard-hitting, if sobering, slap to knock us out of our national bout of codology.

Despite having been bookies’ favourite, under a cold examination by World Rugby, we came a distant third of the three bids.