Gerry Thornley/On Rugby:In hindsight, the ripple effects from that quarter-final play-off defeat in Lens lasted right through to Sunday's ignominious exit to the French.
For beating the Pumas and reaching the coveted last eight, the IRFU hierarchy would have been eternally grateful. But therein lies the rub. Ultimately, not even avenging that Lens setback fully exorcised it.
Ireland's World Cup was consumed first and foremost by a fear of Lens repeating itself and by a need to avenge that defeat. It was, Eddie O'Sullivan said repeatedly, the primary goal. Perhaps we in the media had been partly to blame, though it clearly came from within as well.
Indeed, one could well imagine one or two of the IRFU hierarchy putting their arms around O'Sullivan and saying: "Jaysus Eddie, whatever else happens, make sure we get to the quarter-finals this time."
Accordingly, the bulk of the Ireland side was played from the start against both Romania and Namibia, in readiness for the Argentina game, even though the Namibian game would have been seen as a logical resting point by other coaches.
Despite being riddled with anxiety, and taking the Pumas on at their own game rather than having confidence in the wide, running game which this team has aspired to, Ireland squeezed home. O'Sullivan then wondered aloud about resting some players against Australia, but rightly decided to go for it, and the ploy very nearly came off. Responding to a packed Telstra Dome, that was Ireland's best performance of the tournament by far, and privately they'll surely rue some of the decision-making by the team leaders in the final quarter.
Last week O'Sullivan repeated his assertion that "no matter what happens next, Ireland have had a very, very, very good World Cup". There was probably still some fallout from Lens in that statement, and the pressure it had placed on him and the squad, but it was a premature verdict. Irish players were doing some shopping on Saturday, and one member of the management detected they were a mite too satisfied about their "performance" against Australia.
Similar expressions of contentment about achieving the primary objective of reaching the quarter-finals had been expressed by the Scots and the Welsh.
Could you imagine the big four in the semi-finals, or the South Africans for that matter, lauding their World Cup as a success before the quarter-finals? The French, meantime, had left some of their luggage behind in Sydney in readiness for the semi-finals.
You reap what you sow? Not being wise after the event, but the odds were always against Ireland beating France last Sunday. France were playing at a far higher level, and had set their targets higher. Lacking fire-power in the original squad, Ireland could ill-afford losing the cutting edge of Denis Hickie on top of Geordan Murphy.
Defeat would have been no disgrace in itself, but it wasn't unreasonable to expect a better Irish performance in a World Cup quarter-final. As good as the French were, most Irish supporters will regard it as a very disappointing exit.
A congested Six Nations, cramming five games into seven weeks, was deemed unsuitable to a squad the size and depth of Ireland's, yet eight of them played five World Cup games in five weeks, and it would have been nine had Hickie not been injured. To win the William Webb Ellis trophy, they'd have had to play seven World Cup games in seven weeks.
Ultimately, despite O'Sullivan's protestations to the contrary, Ireland looked battle weary rather than battle hardened last Sunday.
The scheduling of matches undoubtedly worked against them. Yet, by comparison, France could feel free to rest their starting line-up the week before they played Ireland, as did Australia and Argentina. Ireland used only 21 players in their starting line-ups. Five of the original 30-man squad, plus both late call-ups, never saw a minute of action. Maybe some of them weren't up to it, but all of the other quarter-finalists made more use of their 30-man squads.
Where does this leave Ireland? Most probably still just holding off Argentina at, realistically, sixth in the world, though the Scots, and especially Wales, appear to be climbing again. Australia look to be slipping down from the upper tier, as are South Africa, but the big three of New Zealand, England and France are still as far away as ever - if not further. The more Ireland run into the likes of New Zealand, England or France on days like last Sunday, the more one sees the big boys winning the collisions across the gain line. It's a recurring theme.
So, maybe sixth is as close as Ireland can get. This was as fine a collection of Irish rugby players as has been assembled since the mid-1980s. The IRFU certainly ensured they didn't lack for funding, and no Irish team has been better prepared or fitter. O'Sullivan, a smart coach whose work-rate is second to none, ensured that.
Now O'Sullivan faces some hard decisions. Contracted through to the 2007 World Cup, he will, this time around, be given a freer hand to select his back-up staff, all of whom are under contract until the end of this season. He should have been given that freedom from the outset.
The IRFU, with their meddling and desire for empty public relations exercises, did O'Sullivan no favours by foisting Declan Kidney on him as his assistant, but they did Kidney even less.
Kidney, reluctant to take the job, was placed under severe pressure by leading IRFU powerbrokers to accept the position, and he was given no indication as to his own future when O'Sullivan's four-year extension was announced prior to the World Cup.
The O'Sullivan-Kidney arrangement, or enforcement, was never likely to work, and it hasn't. According to a few players, the two men were hardly seen talking together lately, and it had become worse than the latter stages of the Warren Gatland-O'Sullivan ticket. Having done much to spark the rejuvenation in Irish rugby with Munster at the turn of the millennium, it would be surprising if Kidney was not thoroughly disenchanted, and if the IRFU do lose him, whether it be back to teaching or across the sea, it will be entirely of their own making.
He deserved better and, even though he had limited influence, his man-management skills will be missed. Mike McGurn, the highly-respected fitness director, is rumoured to be Sale-bound.
O'Sullivan will surely want Niall O'Donovan, who may well become the assistant coach, to stay on, as he will want with many others in the back-up staff.
Ireland's lineout put O'Donovan in the top drawer globally, and was even better than the remarkable, bald statistics. Ireland won all but two of their 104 throws (both to Argentina) and pilfered 26 of the opposition's 118 lineouts.
However, mindful of the superior French scrum and French defence - guided by Gloucester's Dave Ellis, they pushed up far more aggressively than Ireland and dictated the point of collision on their terms - O'Sullivan will have to ask himself some tough questions. Does he have the best defensive coach he can acquire? Does he have the best scrum coach? And what is to become of Ireland's back play, which lacked invention and penetration? He might yet need a new fitness coach as well.
Then there's the playing squad, which already requires a new captain and, for better or for worse, not even Brian O'Driscoll would be such a dominant presence. David Humphreys, Reggie Corrigan, Victor Costello, Shane Byrne and Gary Longwell may well not be around in four years, nor may a few others.
Nor is there compelling evidence that the conveyor belt, no less than the elite coaching development, is being properly nurtured.
Connacht were pilloried by the union for contracting too many non Irish-bred players, even though Ulster weren't much different, but now even Munster have sought out the likes of Simon Kerr, Tony Pewsey, Jason Jones-Hughes and Shaun Payne, while Leinster have contracted a non-Irish outhalf, Felipe Contepomi, for four years.
Maybe we're being too pessimistic and the players will start coming through. At least Ireland won't have to pre-qualify next time around. Maybe then the bar will be raised a little higher too.
