Ireland winger Scott Grix was ‘devastated’ after a 30-14 defeat to Fiji eliminated the Wolfhounds from the World Cup.
The Irish have been the most improved side at the tournament and made the semi-final qualifier against expectations.
But, with a semi-final clash against favourites Australia as the prize today, Ireland rarely looked like contenders.
The Yorkshire-born 24-year-old Grix said: ‘We have to take it on the chin.
‘It was a tough game, you can put your finger on where it went wrong but one-in all-in and we should have been better than that - I'm devastated.’
Damien Blanch, Grix's Australia-born team-mate, added: ‘The boys put everything into tonight, everyone is so gutted.
‘Everyone wrote us off so to get where we've got, everyone is so proud but we really wanted that semi-final place.’
Ireland coach Andy Kelly admitted his side had been outclassed, saying: ‘I just feel like the guys tackled the whole game - 75% of the game was defensive effort.
‘They kept fighting to the end but there was probably not enough smart football out there.’
