Kidney takes defeat on the chin

Rugby:Ireland's decision to run the ball and kick for the corners in the opening 20 minutes of today's 22-10 loss to Wales in the World Cup quarter-finals were the right tactics, Declan Kidney insisted after today's match in Wellington.

Ireland chose not to take eminently kickable penalties in the opening quarter after they had conceded an early try to Shane Williams. Instead, Ronan O'Gara kicked for the corner in an attempt to set up try-scoring opportunities from attacking lineouts, despite having the advantage of a strong southerly wind at their backs in the first half.

"I think once they got that early try we went after that try ourselves," Kidney said. "We were in good flow and in good feeling out on the pitch and I think we made the right decisions."

The tactics were backed by captain Brian O'Driscoll, who said the swirling wind had been a factor in his decision.

"We just felt we could keep the pressure on and back the boys' ability to drive over," O'Driscoll said. "I think what cost us a bit was we spent a lot of time down in their 22 and only came up with three points in the half.

"It hurts you a bit when you're going in at half-time, having that many opportunities and knocking on the door and not getting any points out of territory."

Despite failing to nail down their territorial and possession advantage in the first half, an early second-half try by winger Keith Earls and a sideline conversion by O'Gara brought the Irish back into the game at 10-10.

Wales scrumhalf Mike Phillips, however, changed the momentum of the match when he darted down the blindside from an attacking ruck to spectacularly dive over in the corner.

That gave his side a 15-10 lead which they extended to a match-winning 22-10 when Jonathan Davies burst through some weak defending with 15 minutes remaining.

"Once they got that try to go 15-10 up they pinned us back with penalties and ... back into the corners and getting field position," Kidney said of what was essentially the pivotal period in the match. "Once they did that it was very difficult to break out of it."

Kidney described the dressing room as "very quiet" after the match. Both he and O'Driscoll admitted they had been simply outplayed by a Wales side who took what opportunities they had and constantly drove the Irish back behind the advantage line when defending. Wales made 141 tackles to Ireland's 93.

"We had high hopes coming into the game and we got outplayed on the day," O'Driscoll said. "We made too many unforced errors and coughed up some very soft tries and at the business end of World Cup when you get to knockout stage you can't afford to play below par and we did that and paid the price.

"That's the bitter disappointment but you have to suck it up and when you haven't performed on a big stage it's very, very disappointing. Collectively and personally, I won't get this opportunity again and that really sucks."