Pool D/Ireland 14 Georgia 10:When the Irish players traipsed wearily off the pitch, captain Brian O'Driscoll was visibly stunned by a brief bout of booing from some of the 15,000-plus Irish supporters before the Georgians' arrival at the tunnel prompted applause from Irish, French and Georgian supporters alike.
It's as well the Georgians had adopted the traditional Irish standing of plucky losers. And just as well they certainly weren't lucky.
Had they shown a tad more composure, or had Denis Leamy not positioned his body under the ball, when rumbling over the Irish line in the 77th minute, Georgia would have recorded the biggest shock in the history of the World Cup bar none, and Ireland would have suffered its worst defeat.
Even if Merab Kvirikashvili had landed just one of one missed penalty and five missed drop goal attempts, the last-minute Georgian penalty would have been a kick to win the match. Ye gods! Had Ireland lost, it would not only have meant near certain elimination but the possibility of finishing fourth in their pool and having to qualify against the likes of Portugal, Sweden or Russia three years' hence.
In accounting for the nine handling errors and various turnovers, Eddie O'Sullivan maintained this was partly the consequence of Ireland endeavouring to play "high risk rugby". It certainly ran a very high risk of losing, but this description of Ireland's tactics, such as they were, is baffling.
Of the 34 passes he received, Ronan O'Gara kicked the ball 11 times. All told, Ireland kicked the ball 33 times in 80 minutes, an extraordinary tally when you consider - partly as a result - Ireland only had 38 per cent of possession. The rank awfulness of some of this kicking - on which kicking coach Mark Tainton shed little light - is reflected in Georgia having a 68-32 split of the territory. The extension of that was Ireland having to make a taxing 98 tackles to Georgia's 78 six days before playing France.
The Ireland coach also described the Georgians as, wait for it, "unpredictable". Even if he had in mind the relative obscurity of the Georgian players, what they did was largely one-dimensional and utterly predictable, both after their opening match with Georgia and after about five minutes here.
Girvan Dempsey, saviour in chief with his 55th-minute try, admitted Ireland had been "one-dimensional and we kicked poorly", adding "we need to be more ambitious". His own try, after deft hands by Jerry Flannery with his first touch, and only on the field because Rory Best had been injured, merely made the lack of width to Ireland's game bewildering.
The pack are not getting around the pitch - although David Wallace was in support for Gordon D'Arcy's break in the prelude to Dempsey's try. High intensity in contact and a willingness to keep the ball alive are the only way to play the modern game.
The Irish performance and result needs to be put in further perspective.This was a mix of Georgia's first and second stringers, many drawn from the French Federale (the equivalent of the fifth division) as coach Malkhaz Cheishvili was obliged to rotate his squad four days (including a travel day) after going toe to toe with Argentina in Lyon.
This meant winger Irakli Machkhaneli, hugely impressive against Argentina, and tighthead David Zirakachvili - first-choice with French champions Clermont Auvergne - were amongst those rested for their targeted meeting with Namibia. By the 34th minute they had lost captain and lock Ilia Zedginidze as well as fullback Otar Barkalaia through injury. The youngest team at this World Cup, (average age 26 years 142 days) met the most experienced team in Irish rugby history.
O'Sullivan spoke of only one lost throw and taking six of the Georgian throws, but this overlooks a couple of wayward taps, while the clever ploy of creating a hole in the middle of the lineout for Wallace to charge on to Donnacha O'Callaghan's tap down was a rare example of something different.
Alas, the coach's selection policy - such as it is - and concept of impact replacements is in striking contrast to virtually all other 19 coaches at this World Cup and has contrived to give him little or no options. Malcolm O'Kelly may be a handy weapon to attack opposition lineouts, but this was a game made for Alan Quinlan.
Isaac Boss may conceivably start instead of the out-of-sorts Peter Stringer but the treatment of European Cup winner Eoin Reddan - assuredly a more viable option - along with two-time European Cup winner Geordan Murphy and fellow European Cup winners Frankie Sheahan and Quinlan, remains puzzling.
Even the influence of O'Driscoll, about the only player looking to make offloads until Shane Horgan came looking for the ball more in the second half, along with that of Paul O'Connell waned as the game wore on.
Stringer, berated by O'Driscoll for his try-scoring intercepted pass, is far from alone in searching forlornly for his best form. The same could be said for John Hayes, O'Callaghan, Simon Easterby, Leamy (whose stamp was assuredly born out of frustration with his and his team's own performance), O'Gara (although the IRFU should be down on bended knee for his right touchline conversion to the pack's mauling try), D'Arcy and Hickie.
And yet, and yet, and yet. Whatever pressure Ireland have put themselves under, they could break free against a team under more pressure. "I'm really looking forward to it and I'm excited about it," maintained Horgan. "We've a chance of playing the hosts in their own ground, and of putting them out. So I know where the pressure is, and it's not with us."
Scoring sequence: 17 mins: R Best try, O'Gara con 7-0; 37: Kvirikashvili pen 7-3; 45: Shkinin try, Kvirikashvili con 7-10; 55: Dempsey try, O'Gara con 14-10.
IRELAND: G Dempsey (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D'Arcy (Leinster), D Hickie (Leinster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster). Replacements: J Flannery (Munster) for R Best (53 mins); S Best (Ulster) for Hayes (66 mins); I Boss (Ulster) for Stringer (70 mins); N Best (Ulster) for Easterby (72 mins). Sinbinned: D Wallace (37-47 mins).
GEORGIA: O Barkalaia; G Elizbarashvili, M Urjukashvili, D Kacharava, G Shkinin; M Kvirikashvili, B Samkharadze; M Magrakvelidze, G Shvelidze, A Kopaliani, I Zedginidze M Gorgodze, I Maisuradze, R Urushadze, G Chkhaidze (Massy). Replacements: L Datunashvili for Zedginidze (32 mins); I Machkhaneli for Barkalaia (34 mins); Akvsenti Giorgadze for Magrakvelidze, D Khinchagashvili for Kopoliani (both 48 mins); O Eloshvili for Elizbarashvili (51 mins); Z Maisuradze for I Maisuradze (58 mins); Irakli Abuseridze for Samkharadze (72 mins).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).
