Outclassed, outmuscled, but gracious in defeat

THEY might have been beaten out of sight by a vastly superior side, but nothing really became the Irish World Cup squad quite like the manner of their leaving.

There wasn't a whinge or a complaint from anybody, just a ready acknowledgment that they were outclassed by a superior force. There were a few little jokes, a few deprecatory comments. We were good losers and let the cynics, for once, stay silent and not refer to how much practice we have at being just that.

Remember John Keats' poem about accepting those "twin imposters" of victory and defeat in equal measure? Well, Eddie O'Sullivan clearly does.

"We were only 10-0 down up to the half hour mark but they were all over us in every way and the miracle is that we were only ten points down at that stage," he admitted. "We were battening down the hatches every two minutes only to have them ripped off again. Fifteen minutes in, it was 14-6 in line-outs and 9-3 in penalties.

"That's the extent to which they were dominating the game. We were being dragged and pulled everywhere and completely outmuscled up front. It was torrid stuff for everybody. I thought at 10-0 we actually got into the game but we threw an intercept pass that ripped the guts out of the team.

"It got to 27-0 at half time and then came a penalty and try in the first ten minutes of the second half. I suppose lesser men might have walked away at that point but I think we took the game to France in the last half hour.

"People might say they took the foot off the pedal, I thought we put our foot on the pedal for the first time in the game. You could say we needed that last thirty minutes in the first thirty minutes but unfortunately it wasn't to be."

Television viewers the world over along with the 33,134 in Melbourne's Telstra Stadium (around 19,000 under capacity), saw O'Sullivan talk animatedly to his troops for a minute or more in the middle of the pitch after the final whistle.

It was emotional stuff and true to form, he generously explained just what had passed between himself and the players.

"I was trying to put shape on the World Cup, it's a strange place to be," he said. "Every bone in your body, every muscle, every sinew, every thought, the next step, winning today and going on to Sydney and the semi-finals.

"You daren't think of losing. It's unprofessional. Everybody in the camp felt that way. And suddenly in 90 minutes, it's dashed away from you. You're thinking about getting on a plane home tomorrow. It's a pretty sudden change and an emotional thing for everybody.

"So I was trying to just say, this team has given everything, we planned for this World Cup, we trained hard for it, we put up some very good performances.

"We were very disappointed today devastated to an extent. I was trying to put some shape on that for them, to tell them that they had to be proud of what they delivered, that the people at home looking on would be proud of them as well.

"Today was a tough day. Now it sinks in. It's over. The odyssey is over. Everything you've worked for is over and I suppose that's a big shock for everybody."

Of the French, O'Sullivan asserted: "This side is a little different. At the moment, there's a clarity of thought that's very menacing. Their set piece is rock solid. Their defensive system is incredibly aggressive, the most aggressive we've met in the tournament.

"Their discipline is superb and on top of that, they've got phenomenal speed and class. It's a very potent cocktail. We were punch drunk after thirty minutes. They strangled us to death for fifty minutes today. If they keep that kind of form, I think they will go the whole way. France can beat England and England know it."

Ronan O'Gara's greatest admirers would agree that he didn't have one of his better days but as Eddie O'Sullivan mentioned, he wasn't helped by an early knock to the head: "He was pretty shook, but I think he came out of it well and got himself together.

"David Humphreys came off the bench and read the game very well. But it's happened the other way around as well.

"David has started games and we've sent Ronan in and he's got on with it as well. It's the perennial discussion about two very good players and the value of having one of them on the bench at any one time is great."

O'Sullivan dismissed the possibility of playing O'Gara and Humphreys in the same team and duly came out with another memorable one liner: "You change your shirt coming to work today but that doesn't mean you had the wrong shirt on yesterday."

No wonder they love the Irish!