Here's where Ireland's Rugby World Cup bid fell down

Yesterday’s report by World Rugby’s Technical Review Group was fulsome in its praise for three “outstanding candidate submissions” and the IRFU was particularly keen to cling on to the remark that all of them could host a “successful” tournament.

Yet the chances of the Rugby World Cup taking place on these shores come 2023 receded significantly with the unveiling of the 139-page document (though a number of those pages were redacted for confidentiality reasons).

It’s important to note that Ireland did not ‘fail’ in any category but that France and, in particular, South Africa scored higher in a number of key areas.