Ireland out-half Ian Madigan has pointed to his missed penalty attempt on goal just before the final quarter as key to his team's Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina.
If Madigan had landed the kick Ireland would have been level at 23-23 heading into the final 20 minutes; however, that miss, followed by a kick put out on the full, was followed by a Nicolas Sanchez penalty putting Argentina 26-20 up, before the South American side pulled away to win 43-20.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport in the Cardiff aftermath, Madigan said: “It’s really disappointing. We could have won that game. It wasn’t a good enough performance. Starting with myself, I wasn’t good enough today. It was a massive opportunity to make history and make it to the semi-final.
“And we just weren’t good enough on the day. They came out of the traps very quickly and that meant we were chasing our tail, but we got back into the game.
“I had an opportunity to draw things up. I think if that goes over Ireland are in with a great chance of winning the game.”
“I had an opportunity to draw things up. I think if that goes over Ireland are in with a great chance of winning the game” - Ian Madigan
Los Pumas scored 20 unanswered points in the last quarter as they crushed Ireland's hopes and Madigan pointed to the strength of their bench as key in the victory.
“They finished out the game very strongly. But I have no doubt that if we had drawn it up we would have forged ahead," said Madigan.
“And I thought the guys who came off the bench had a good impact.”
A disconsolate Madigan also thanked the Irish fans for their immense support over the course of the tournament.
“All I can do is thank the support. It’s been absolutely incredible over here. The stories we’ve been hearing about [the support] at home have been unbelievable," said Madigan.
“It’s just devastating that we weren’t able to make the semi-finals. It’s going to take a long time to get over this one."
The Ireland squad fly back to home soil today.
