"There are a couple of big areas of the game that we really pride ourselves on, that's usually our set-piece. We’ll take a look at why those bits that are normally so strong for us let us down. Pressure can do very strange things to you." – Rory Best, 16 March, 2019.
The quote from Ireland’s captain above came after the Six Nations loss to Wales five months ago. That the squad has not been able to rectify, on yesterday's damning evidence, that issue after eight weeks of training since mid-June speaks volumes.
Ireland have injury problems but it's hard to escape the fact that the biggest concern is the psychological damage that was done last spring and again yesterday in Twickenham.
When asked about the lineout malfunction in the 57-15 defeat (losing six from 13), Best could only offer, "we’ve got to look at how that happened... we thought we were in a good place," and suggests that the problem is not process or practice, it’s mental.
England ran in eight tries to Ireland’s two – that’s what happens if you miss 34 tackles.
Johnny Sexton, who may not be fit to face Wales next week after taking a heavy knock to his leg after a ruck collapsed in training, according to a report in The Sunday Times, and James Ryan, Ireland’s best two players, were absent but you’d find it hard to put together an argument that they would have made much of a difference, such was the general level of disinterest on show.
After what happened in the last Six Nations, getting "bullied" by England and failing to show up against Wales, there were whispers about the similarities between what happened the team during the build up to the 2007 World Cup campaign and this year.
They will speak in hushed tones no longer. While it will never be exactly the same plotline there is enough "malaise about the team", as Joe Schmidt said yesterday, to begin a serious discussion about the team’s preparation.
Best said after yesterday's game that [we] must put more "pressure on ourselves when we're training". If that's the best he can come up with after eight weeks in camp then there's a problem. Running harder through the same processes that brought us to this point seems senseless. Something new is required.
Last week we wrote about the perils of these World Cup warm-ups and somewhat ominously Eddie O’Sullivan speculated about what the effect of a heavy defeat in London would be.
"If we get caught on the hop and England get on the front foot then, allied to the Italy performance, the two Welsh games take on a completely different hue," he said.
"That builds the sort of pressure ahead of the last game in Dublin that you don't need coming into a World Cup, there’s enough pressure in the tournament itself.
"If you play badly in a warm-up game the seeds of doubt can be sown in the players so for that reason it’s really all about performance.
"In 2007 we played two warm-up games and we couldn't find our form in the tournament and the rest is history," said the former head coach, who took Ireland to two World Cups, including that fateful trip to France.
Ireland pitched up to the RWC on the back of a Six Nations campaign that was lost on points difference. The team were flying and had a golden generation – O’Connell, O’Driscoll, O’Gara, D’Arcy – primed to do the business.
But Ireland lost to Scotland before scraping past Italy. They then played a 'friendly' against Bayonne that tuned into the "dirtiest game" Neil Best ever played.
The opening two games of the World Cup brought wins over Namibia (unconvincing) and Georgia (lucky) but the writing was on the wall.
France and Argentina applied the knockout blows.
Back in 2019 and speaking to Newstalk last week Peter O'Mahony alluded to the mental effort required.
"The stress levels are a different level when it comes to international rugby," he said.
The squad, those who are fit, should be in peak physical condition, the problem is dealing with the mental malaise.
"[They are a] team who looked tired mentally and physically," said Stephen Ferris, an RTÉ Rugby analyst, about yesterday's game.
Fiona Coghlan, who led Ireland to the 2013 Women's Six Nations title, told RTÉ Sport: "The mental challenge is as tough as the physical challenge going into a World Cup and you need momentum with Scotland first up.
"They have two games against Wales to get their process in place, get a bit of confidence into the squad because a defeat like that, even though England are a couple of weeks ahead, is going to crush your confidence a bit."
At least the levels of expectation around the team from the general public will be at a more manageable level.
Asked ahead of the England game if he dreamed of winning this World Cup, Conor Murray told Sky Sports: "Yeah, you’d be wasting your time if you were here for any other reason."
The good news is that there is now no external pressure on the team to do so.
With a performance like this in the bag, nobody expects a first World Cup semi-final let alone a bigger prize.
