Ireland a long way from the cloak of invincibility

It didn’t go unnoticed that the vast majority of Irish players put forward in the mixed zone after Saturday’s abysmal display against New Zealand were younger men and/or replacements. It was a thankless task after everything the team had been through.

Keith Earls did come through belatedly, and spoke as well as always about what had just happened and what must happen now, but here was a symbolic changing of the guard happening right in front of our eyes, even if that was far from the intention.