Ireland still talking a great game — now to play one

The vibes around Ireland’s World Cup adventure are not good. Defeat to Japan and the unimpressive win against Russia have given new life to the theory that this team’s peak is in the past, even as they look to the future and a bid for rugby’s summit.

The squad may be a self-contained organism as it travels down through Honshu Island and onto neighbouring Kyushu but it isn’t one completely removed from the conversations and the criticisms, whether they emanate from the press pack here or from home. It can’t be.