No excuses, just regrets

It is hard to know which is worse: the fact that Ireland will have to stew over this for three whole months or the realisation that the time for introspection will end with a three-Test summer tour to, of all places, New Zealand.

The thought is a sobering one.

The Kiwis have played host to the Irish nine times since the first official visit in 1976 and – as if we didn’t already know – they have won every one. The last meeting was a 66-28 defeat for the tourists in 2010 and it was a scoreline that hardly flattered the now world champions.

Things may get worse before they get better.

“If we want to be one of the best sides in the world we have to take a long, hard look at ourselves and focus on the areas where we are poor,” said Sean O’Brien. “We have to go to New Zealand confident. They are the best in the world but we will be going over there to do the best we can.”

No-one doubts the same principle was applied to their efforts two days ago but their actions fell far short of the desired level and it was revealing that “embarrassing” was the first word out of the Tullow forward’s mouth when asked for his summation of it.

There were no excuses offered, or accepted, for an underwhelmingc ampaign. The four games in four weeks? Not interested. No O’Driscoll or O’Connell? Don’t go there. Bottom line? The last two months just haven’t been good enough for that group of players.

Those are his words, not ours.

There were many moments which could be singled out as being symbolic of the team’s problems and the sight of last year’s European player-of-the-year being given the shepherd’s hook for the second time in this campaign is one of them.

Like O’Brien, Ireland have struggled to hit their straps to the same extent in 2012 as was the case last year.

He refutes utterly the suggestion that this is a team in a downward spiral but admits the lack of consistency is eating him up.

“It probably is a little bit frustrating for us: beaten by a point by Wales and drawing with France. Looking back now, potentially this could have been a Grand Slam decider if things had gone our way but that’s beside the point. We got blown out of the water here. “I think there are positives but at the end of the day we beat Italy and Scotland and it just isn’t good enough for this group of players.

“We are going to have a long, hard look at ourselves over the next few months, bite the bullet and get on with things.”

It is clear that what really gets O’Brien’s gander up is the fact Ireland continue to show tantalising glimpses of what it is they can do but never enough over a long enough period of time to guard against regrets.

Even this latest setback was dusted with encouraging work at the breakdown in the first-half while the defence held tough for an hour before exhaustion and that splintering scrum combined to open up the approaches.

The manner in which the Irish setpiece was eviscerated brought to mind the job done to the Australian pack seven years ago in the same stadium by an English front row spearheaded by Andrew Sheridan.

This was all the more shocking simply because it was so unexpected. It was hoped that the days of Irish forwards collapsing backwards in a heap were at an end and O’Brien admitted it was something he has never experienced before.

“No, I probably haven’t. It’s hard, especially as a back rower and the other two lads will tell you the same. When you are going back like that it is hard to make an impact and do anything.

“But there are other bits and pieces we have to look at as well. It’s not something that makes you get your head down or anything like that. You just have to battle, to try and fight on. In the circumstances, we just weren’t winning the hit and they had us under severe pressure in there.

“In fairness, they had a good scrum.”

So do New Zealand – and a lot more besides.