Brian O'Driscoll has given coach Eddie O'Sullivan a vote of confidence by blaming the players for Ireland's World Cup shambles.
A comprehensive 30-15 defeat by Argentina dumped Ireland out of the tournament and secured the Pumas a quarter-final against Scotland next Sunday.
The pain of Ireland's failure has been intensified by the realisation they were nowhere near progressing from the World Cup's 'pool of death' after being well beaten by France and Argentina.
O'Sullivan, who was awarded a new four-year contract only a week before the tournament began, is under pressure to explain events of the last three weeks.
But for O'Driscoll the responsibility lies with the players, not the coach.
'It feels very low to be knocked out of the World Cup. It's the second time I've felt this way at the hands of Argentina,' said the skipper.
'It's tough to take but that's sport. If you don't perform you don't get the rewards. A lot of the onus has to go on the players.
'There's only so much coaching that can be done. The responsibility is on the 15 guys that take the field.
'We didn't front up enough during the four games. Maybe we played some half-decent rugby against Argentina but it was too little, too late. As individual players we'll look back with disappointment at the way we played.'
Ireland began the day needing to beat Argentina by more than seven points while scoring a minimum of four tries, but that target looked way beyond them.
Beautifully executed scores from Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy gave them hope but Argentina, who led 18-10 at the break, were in the ascendancy throughout.
Wingers Lucas Borges and Horacio Agulla crossed in the first half for the Pumas. Felipe Contepomi booted 11 points and Juan Martin Hernandez weighed in with a hat-trick of drop goals.
