Requiem to Irish rugby: Their World Cup disaster was always on the cards

The death throes of the Irish team in France have been grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented. Heard that one before? Having witnessed degrees of submission and domination that even the Marquis de Sade could only have fantasised about, I suggest that there was some high profile foreplay preceding this flaccid withdrawal from the business end of the tournament. The question is, why did we not see what was coming (excuse the pun) our way?

I think that the signs were emerging a little while ago. In my innocence and conviction I missed it. Now, forced to face reality, I see it as déjà vu. My theory is that the worm turned in Rome. The origins of this were posted all over a Saturday that had ‘Dolce Vita ‘ written all over it until our concentration lapsed and Italy robbed us of a tournament title.

That’s the submission part. In retrospect the turning point could have could even been against Scotland. The ‘choking ‘ allegations were G.U.B.U. all right, and both sides could not be right on this one. That was the first warning sign of Eddie’s loss of control.

A serious dent in my William Hill account is testimony to Leinster doing a no-show in Cardiff for their claim on a Magner’s league title. Munster was Monstered by Llanelli in Europe. That’s when the domination part should have hit home. Then there’s Ulster v Munster in Ravenhill but let’s just not go there - and Leinster v Wasps, if you remember it, was a stain.