No 10 frequently an Irish saviour but influence goes missing as green machine is rolled over by men in white
No grand slam this time, just the eerie thud of lofty Irish reputations crashing back down to earth. One bad result does not suddenly make Ireland a bad side but this was not a day to convince many neutrals the world’s second-best team were wearing green. Maybe that was the problem: given the choice between being the hunters or the hunted, Irish rugby players instinctively prefer the underdogs’ basket.
Being garlanded as near-invincible champions before a ball has even been kicked is rather less comfortable terrain. And goodness this was an untypical Ireland performance: nervy, inaccurate, flat in places, panicky in others. Not even their customary saviour, the sainted Johnny Sexton, was immune. Had he bailed them out, as he so often does, there would have been little justice.
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