• Rugby World Cup 2019: O’Driscoll’s words prophetic as showpiece comes year too late for Ireland

    Ireland enjoyed one of their greatest years in 2018, but they looked a shadow of their former selves as they crashed out of the World Cup.
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    In an interview with Omnisport last April, the great Brian O’Driscoll acknowledged Ireland would prefer the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held 12 months earlier than scheduled.

    How Joe Schmidt’s men must have wished that had been the case on Saturday, as they suffered a humbling 46-14 defeat to a rampant New Zealand and exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage yet again.

    In 2018, Ireland were almost unstoppable, racking up 11 wins from 12 Tests – including a Six Nations Grand Slam and an historic maiden home win over the All Blacks in November.

    Their only defeat, at the hands of Australia in June, was swiftly avenged, as they followed up that loss in Brisbane with victories in Melbourne and Sydney to earn a first series victory in Australia since 1979.

    Before that tour and the triumph over the All Blacks, though, O’Driscoll delivered an assessment that can now be viewed as startlingly prophetic. 

    In the wake of Ireland’s Grand Slam success, the former British and Irish Lions centre said: “Would we prefer to have the World Cup this September? Yes, we would, because of where we feel we’re at versus the rest of the world.

    “But 18 months is a long time in international rugby. It will give other teams an opportunity to build on the work they’ve done.

    “South Africa won’t be the side that they currently are in 18 months’ time; they always get it together for a World Cup. France seem to be a side that will definitely improve. Wales have a lot of injuries [and will be stronger in future]. England are not going to be as disappointing as they were in this year’s Six Nations.

    “So there’s lots of teams that have time to be able to right their wrongs in terms of recent form and make sure that they peak come Japan 2019.”

    Unfortunately for O’Driscoll and his countrymen, while several nations have improved significantly, Ireland’s recent peak has undeniably passed.

    A week on from last November’s triumph over New Zealand, Ireland swept the major honours at the 2018 World Rugby awards, scooping the team of the year prize as Schmidt and Johnny Sexton were named coach of the year and player of the year respectively.

    The following day, Schmidt announced his intention to stand down and end his coaching career after the World Cup. Ireland’s fortunes have declined sharply ever since.

    Defeats to England and Wales in this year’s Six Nations saw the team finish third 12 months on from their Grand Slam glory.

    If that represented a concerning dip, the alarm bells were certainly ringing by the time Schmidt’s side were trounced 57-15 by England at Twickenham in August.

    Skipper Rory Best said he and his team-mates were “nowhere near where we need to be”, adding: “The only upside is that it is the middle of August not the middle of September.”

    Ireland won their remaining warm-up games against Wales and further much-needed optimism was provided when they recorded a comprehensive 27-3 win over Scotland in their opening Pool A fixture.

    Yet it proved a false dawn.

    A shock loss to hosts Japan six days on laid bare Ireland’s issues once more and ultimately pressed Best and Co into the least enviable quarter-final slot, as opponents of the All Blacks.

    Had the game taken place in 2018, Ireland would surely have fancied their chances.

    Instead, this contest felt like a foregone conclusion from the outset and so it proved as a glittering era under Schmidt came to a painful end.

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