Colin Sheridan: Ireland lost because they lacked the wound and a Dunphy to inflict it

What we needed was someone throwing a pen across the studio desk. 

FALL OUT: Ireland's Johnny Sexton and head coach Andy Farrell at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis last week. 

Before we begin, let’s address the elephant in the room. Ireland lost last Saturday night against New Zealand, not because of a misfiring set piece (half a dozen games now) nor the lack of a strategic kicking game or the absence of a discernible Plan B in the clutch or because they persisted with an out half nearly as old as myself who consistently carried the ball into contact despite being absolutely knackered or because Peter O’Mahony called Sam Cane a poor man’s Richie McCaw a year ago, inspiring the All Black to his greatest ever game, nor because they played practically the same team four matches in a row. 

They didn’t lose for any of these reasons. Not really. All of these things were either on-the-night cock-ups or complacent tics developed in the process of curating a winning habit. They lost because - just as ugly Norman Mailer said of debonair Gore Vidal - they lacked the wound.