Donal Spring/Rugby Analyst: Rugby fans everywhere are looking forward to two great semi-finals this weekend. The All Blacks look to be the stronger of the two Southern Hemisphere sides, but the match between the Northern Hemisphere teams should be a close one.

On form, one would have to go for France, who have looked very impressive to date. One must, however, question the quality and performance of the opposition they have met.

England, on the other hand, have been targeted by all the teams they have played thus far in the competition. None of their opponents were given the slightest chance of beating them.

France, as always, will concentrate on their own game and this, ironically, will suit England. The experience England have gained through close encounters over the past few years, most of which they have won, may just turn the result in their favour in the end.

Now that the dust has settled and the immediate anger and disappointment caused by our performance last Sunday have dissipated, it is time to reflect on Ireland's World Cup campaign.

The statistics show we won three games and lost two. We beat two very weak teams - Romania and Namibia - comfortably, but did not play particularly well and then beat Argentina in a dour struggle by one point.

The highlight was the performance against Australia, whom we could and should have beaten. It is worth remembering that we did not start well against them and after 20 minutes looked to be in deep trouble, but suddenly came alive.

And then, the quarter-final against France, which was an absolute disaster. It seems to me the Irish objective was to reach the quarter-finals, which although an improvement on our performance in the previous World Cup, is still a low target.

With a few notable exceptions, there seemed to be no urgency in the players at the beginning of the French match. Everybody knew that to beat the French we had to get stuck into them from the start and stay on top of them. Yet there were few big tackles and a lot of missed ones. Certain players seemed to let their heads drop after a few minutes.

We heard all along about the Argentinian scrum being the best in the world, but we managed to cope with that. Yet the French scrum destroyed us.

People have said we were tired after our efforts against Australia and Argentina. That is a nonsense. The players had eight days to recover and to a professional athlete that is more than adequate time.

It has also been said we were in the toughest pool, but Wales and Scotland had tough pool matches and still managed to have a lot in the tank for their quarter-finals against Englandand Australia - at least they started aggressively. We never got going at all.

It was said that getting to the quarter-finals was of major benefit for Ireland financially and otherwise. That target was achieved.

It seems, however, that our approach was always going to get us to that point and no further.

Take for example the injury to Geordan Murphy, who along with Denis Hickie represented our greatest threat among the backs. A more positive selection would have seen somebody else tried as full back, for example Hickie, David Humphreys or Paddy Wallace. But we took the conservative approach. Girvan Dempsey has given great service and is very dependable, but is limited as an attacking force.

We have won a huge number of matches in recent years, including wins over Australia and France. The majority of our other opponents have been poor, but it must be acknowledged we have been more consistent against weaker teams than in the past.

The placing of Ireland at number three in the IRB rankings has now been shown up for the nonsense it was and did us no good going into the World Cup.

That competition is a true test of where a team is at and so far in the competition, we should be the most disappointed of all the participants.

The IRFU have commenced a strategic review of rugby and the future, and it's not before time.

The relationship between the professional game and the amateur game must be explored. I think there is great danger in allowing amateurs play against full-time professionals and I hope it will not take a serious injury before that situation is addressed.

The management of resources is another area of contention. I have serious questions over the amount of money we spend on foreign players. I am told there are approximately 40 foreign players currently being paid by the union and the branches.

This might help achieve results in European and Celtic League competitions but it will do very little to provide players for the national team.

This World Cup has shown that we clearly do not have enough options in the various positions available to the Irish side. To broaden the number of players available, they need to be given matches and experience which is currently being blocked by the influx of foreigners.

It is generally acknowledged that club rugby is in a difficult state, with most of the clubs struggling financially. The All-Ireland league, after its great start, has lost much of its popularity. The standard has also fallen drastically.

The positive aspects are the increasing number of schools playing and the improvement in skills among underage players.

The burning question is how to keep these players in the game in sufficient numbers in a set-up that allows them develop to provide a large selection base for future Irish teams.