Rugby World Cup - End of the road for Ireland

Ireland went into the Rugby World Cup with high hopes of at least qualifying for the semi-finals, following a strong showing in the Five Nations Championship earlier in the year, but it all ground to a disappointing end yesterday in Paris.

Before the game even started it was obvious the Irish team had a mountain to claim in order to qualify, as it was faced with an almost impossible task.

It was not going to be enough to beat Argentina; it was necessary to win by eight points and score four tries in the process against a team that had not conceded a try in its three previous games.