Ireland lose to Nobody ...because Nobody’s perfect

THEY were committed, they were smart. They played with imagination and were clever.

Yet Ireland lost by 20 points.

The world woke up yesterday to the inescapable truth that the All Blacks are playing rugby on a different planet at the moment. The Hong Kong reverse against the Wallabies can be written off as an anomaly, something that followed six weeks of inactivity, and the completion of a grand slam - the third in Graham Henry’s reign - looks a mere formality against Wales next week.