Irish lament disappointing performance

Quantifying the extent of failure is a subjective matter. For those who wished to berate Ireland's performance in defeat by Australia at Lansdowne yesterday, the verdict veered from pathetic to disappointing. The players didn't have to be told the extent of their failure, it was patently obvious from the expressions at the final whistle.

The Irish management team was immune to the offer of a couple of verbal glimmers tossed their way on a bleak Dublin evening. Instead they talked the talk of those who had aspired to reach the summit but had found that they have left all their climbing equipment at base camp. It was a crushing failure made all the more disappointing because it was unanticipated.

No one could envisage the depths to which Ireland plummeted for 80 minutes, not least the management. Manager Donal Lenihan explained: "We were certainly up for it before the game. The tension on the bus was there. I think the fact that the Australians owned the ball for the first 20 minutes was a problem. When that happens you tend to get overanxious."

Coach Warren Gatland articulated his unhappiness: "It was a very disappointing performance. We were well beaten by a very good Australian team. One of the most annoying things was that we didn't fire a shot. We weren't accurate in the lineouts nor around the pitch. We let ourselves down.

"I think a huge part of it was down to the Australians. They are one of the best sides in the world. They put us under a great deal of pressure and forced errors. One of their main strengths is that they don't concede tries. They didn't against Romania and again today. They are a very strong outfit. When Steve Larkham and Eales get a few more games, the are going to become even stronger.

"At half-time we were only 6-0 down having played into a very strong wind and performed badly. But we failed to raise our game after the break and couldn't put them under pressure." On a day when there was precious little to cheer about Gatland did single out the performance of the Irish scrum. "I was pretty happy with the way we scrummaged. I thought it was a disgrace that when they brought on a third prop for a hooker that we were not allowed to contest the scrums (Lenihan had queried that point with the fourth official during the first half).

"I thought that with a prop playing at hooker there was no problem. Our scrum was dominating and I thought it was a bit of a cop out by the Australians." This, though, was a minor quibble on an afternoon when the Australians won virtually every contest.

An incident in which Wallaby number eight was caught on television repeatedly strike Trevor Brennan elicited nothing more than an "we didn't see it". The team management confirmed that they would look at the video: a gut reaction perhaps that there will be no official protest.

It was confirmed that both Brennan and Malcolm O'Kelly received stitches and that centre Kevin Maggs recovered some five or 10 minutes following his heavy collision with Daniel Herbert. Bruised pride may take longer to heal however.

Running the video of yesterday's game in the team-room is likely to have many of the players peeping through their fingers. But the more pressing concern for the squad and the management is now Friday's game against Romania. Gatland confirmed: "We have a big game against Romania coming up and we need a good result to get into the quarter-final playoff."

In the context of the playoff game, the Irish coach admitted that while two games in the space of four days is difficult, it is fair. "That's the difficult part of the tournament. The reward is there for winning the pool."