"Fine margins and all that..."
Andy Farrell and Johnny Sexton spoke for 14 minutes in their press conference following the agonising 28-24 World Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand at Stade de France, and the Irish coach's first six words summed up how little there was between the sides.
The All Blacks led Ireland from start to finish in Paris, and yet Farrell's side were a whisker away from winning a game they never should have won.
While there were missed opportunities in the first half stemming from an again sloppy lineout, the chances in the final 10 minutes stuck in the Irish coach's mind. The 38 phases of attack to end the game seemed to last an eternity before Sam Whitelock's winning turnover, while on 70 minutes they also came within a whisker of taking the lead for the first time when Rónan Kelleher's effort at the back of a maul was held up over the line.
"Those little bits are all over the game, aren't they?," Farrell added.
"Ifs, buts and maybes and all that, but at the end of the day it was two good teams out there playing some outstanding rugby, and unfortunately for us we came out on the wrong side of the score."
The defeat marks the eighth time Ireland have fallen at the quarter-final hurdle, and not even a 17-game winning run could give them enough momentum to get over that obstacle.
There will be a brutal post-mortem for how they've once again failed to make the final four, having been number one in the world rankings for more than a year, but Farrell maintained his pride in his players for how they stayed in the game when on several occasions it looked like it was lost.
"Sport can be cruel sometimes I suppose, that's why we love it so much, but I'll reflect on it more over the coming days.
"My initial feeling is that I'm unbelievably proud of the group, how they handled themselves, not just today but all through the tournament, over the last couple of years. That will be my overriding feeling.
"If you go out with a whimper, it's pretty hard to take."
While Ireland only conceded nine penalties, it was the time and location of them that proved costly.
Richie Mo'unga and Jordie Barrett were able to kick their side into an early 6-0 lead to start the game, and when Ireland had got themselves back within a point at 25-24 with 17 minutes to play, their indiscipline allowed the All Blacks to wear down the clock on Codie Taylor's sin-binning, as Barrett took two shots at goal from distance, one of which went between the posts to give his side a four-point cushion that ultimately proved the winning of the game.
"When New Zealand put pressure on people and get the scoreboard ticking over, and it was 6-0 and we gave three penalties away at the start of the game that gave them the soft points there, and then they score next as well and all of sudden we've seen time and time again with this team, the All Blacks that is, just take the game away from people," Farrell added.
Those thoughts were shared by the retiring captain Johnny Sexton, who played his 117th and final game for Ireland in Paris. And the out-half was left to lament how his side gave up three soft tries to New Zealand, in particular Will Jordan's second half effort which made it 25-17.
"It's gutting, isn't it?," Farrell said.
"The last six weeks have been incredible, the support, the way we've played, the combination of both has been a dream come true really, for all of us, and I include today as well.
"I just felt they didn't have to work as hard for their tries, it was like being sucker-punched a couple of times.
"I'm not taking anything away from them, they're a quality team, but the way we had to work for our scores and have the upper hand in a lot of parts of the game, and to concede the try we did in the second half...and then fight back again just shows the character of the team. They're an incredible bunch really. I'm very, very proud to be part of it."
While Farrell spoke of fine margins, Ireland's scrum and lineout issues played a huge role in the defeat. While they only lost one lineout, a lot of the ball they did retain wasn't clean, while they conceded three scrum penalties.
All three went against Andrew Porter, who struggled to get on the right side of referee Wayne Barnes.
"We've a different view to what was going on out there but we don't want to sit here and have sour grapes," Farrell said of the interpretation at the scrum.
"We want to congratulate New Zealand on a fantastic performance, it was a fantastic game to be part of, it was probably fitting of a final.
"The scrum was part of the equation, 100%, and we'll get the answers.
"Andrew, 100% was very frustrated with what was going on out there. We don't to be bitter loses. We want to hold our head up high and do it the right way."
