Rugby fans high five their heroes as Irish team arrives home to Dublin

Luck and inspiration may have abandoned the Irish rugby team, but true fans are steadfast.

A small but very proud group of supporters gathered at Dublin Airport to greet the team as they flew home from World Cup disappointment yesterday. It wasn’t the thousands who travelled to Cardiff to see them in action, and it wasn’t the 1.3m who watched them on television against Argentina, but it nevertheless lifted a low-key homecoming into a heartwarming affair.

The team seemed prepared to put on a brave face as they emerged from a private exit off the main arrivals areas, with chins up but hands dug deep in their pockets and eyes looking a little anxiously around.