Rory Best regret at lack of intensity

A strange occasion. The very sight of a rugby ball being thrown and kicked around a stadium which has rocked to Usain Bolt and Mo Farah in days past, and one which will etch out a new identity as the home of West Ham United, took time to sink in.

The crowd added to the sense of disclocation.

With all the talk of this being a walk in Olympic Park for Ireland, it seemed as if complacency had set in among what was once again another magnificent volume of Irish support.