'We got worse as the game went on'

Ireland v Namibia Reaction:No doubt about it. Eddie O'Sullivan performed better in the media centre than his team did last night in a balmy Bordeaux night. The amateurs against the professionals fell the way of Ireland - the professionals - but the Namibian lap of honour was the most well received move of the evening.

It was a mea culpa, or a collective version of it, from the Irish camp. There were no excuse, no ifs and no next times.

Then O'Sullivan put his metaphorical hands in the air and gave the most critical conference of his career to date.

"It was probably like watching a horror movie out there. It was our worst performance for a long time, very, very poor," said the Irish coach. "I expected us to be a little bit edgy in the first 20 minutes being the first game of the tournament but actually we got worse as the game went on. At half-time we talked about doing the basic things right and we didn't. We made an enormous number of unforced errors.

"All in all a very disappointing performance."

Although the win arrived and Ireland scored their four bonus points to keep them in contact with the competition, the performance fell far from what the Irish side were expecting.

For such a go-forward coach, O'Sullivan found it difficult to see any positives.

"Winning the game, I suppose," he said disconsolately. "And getting the bonus point.

"At end of the day there is very little really. It's our worst performance that I can remember, for a long long time. I certainly can't think of one as bad as that.

"We won the game and got the bonus point. I suppose its something but not much in the context of this World Cup."

Just what he said at half-time when the sides went in was of some interest. But what was said was clearly not carried onto the pitch for the final 40 minutes as Ireland slid further into a hole.

"I asked them not to make the unforced errors they were making, to try and play some phases. I asked them to make some plays and stop allowing the mistakes creep in.

"But we didn't do that. We actually went on to make more errors in the second half. I think a bit of it is that maybe we forced things that were not on. That's down to the players making those decisions and we certainly didn't get that that part of the game right tonight.

"I think our preparation is another day's work," added the coach. "We need to look at how we got to this level and up our performance. We've got to make sure out performance is a hell of a lot better next time. Georgia are a better side from what I've seen of them. We could come out on the wrong side of a result if we don't improve."

Just how that will happen may be a mystery. Ireland have underperformed against Scotland and Italy and now Namibia.

"We can start by not making basic errors in losing the ball in contact or throwing it around loosely. I'm dreading looking at that. If you look at where we were in the Six Nations and now there is a big gap. Its getting refocused on the things we do well and get them right. We thought we had it right tonight but we didn't. We got it badly wrong."

Hurt? Beat up? O'Sullivan was asked.

"Probably their egos were bruised more than their bodies," he replied.