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20th October 2019
01:31pm BST
Was superb after replacing Aki early in the win over Scotland. Ireland's best player in the loss to Japan but was concussed in that game and did not feature again.
Joe Schmidt not selecting him was one of his big errors when it came to the crunch. The next one was...
Quite how Andrew Conway did not make the match-day 23, let alone the starting XV, for New Zealand should see Fox Mulder re-open the X Files.
Ireland's best attacking threat in the backline and scored three tries but Schmidt kept faith in Kearney, Earls and Stockdale.
The best of Ireland's forwards and a consistent performer. His best games were against Scotland and Samoa but he still fought the good fight against the Japanese and All Blacks.
Sexton was looking good all the way until the All Blacks cramped his style and his game collapsed in the quarter finals. Larmour is pressing for a regular role in the back three while Ryan was good but only great against the Scots. Rhys Ruddock should have featured more.
*Murphy, Conan and John Ryan all did well in their sole tournament outings.
Dave Kilcoyne is breathing right down Cian Healy's neck now. Garry Ringrose struggled against the Kiwis, like so many others, but excelled in our first two games. Murray showed glimpses of his 2013-2017 form but was another that was successfully pressured by the ABs.
Stander had 8/10 performances against Samoa and Scotland but most sides know he will horse into contact and have a plan for him. It was a shame we did not have a fully fit Carbery from the start of the tournament.
(Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
Three of our first-choice pack all had their moments in Japan but will leave with regrets. Porter was a decent impact sub while Beirne will be targeting a starting role in 2020.
(Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
Best and Henderson were looking good against the Scots, but that was their high point. Earls had a very quiet World Cup.
Carty was looking good up until 30 minutes in against Japan then his confidence took a hit. Schmidt clearly trusts no other scrum-half bar Murray so McGrath was a bit-part player.
The lack of punch from the replacement hookers shows why Best was clearly the first-choice. Aki was brilliant for his all-action 22 minutes against Scotland (before he went off with a head knock) but was poor against Russia and was sent off against Samoa.
Two players that have delivered plenty of times for Ireland in the past and will have opportunities to redeem themselves in a green jersey.
Henshaw injured his hamstring a week before the tournament started and looked unsure of himself in his two error-riddled appearances. Stockdale was strangely muted and was badly exposed in defence by the reigning world champions.
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