At 31, Wood is relatively young to be hanging up his boots, but following two shoulder operations, a more recent neck injury and general wear and tear on a body that has taken its fair share of punishment in the Irish cause, one of the country’s greatest players ever decided enough was enough.
“It’s unfortunate that it ends on such a downer, but such is life,” was the captain’s parting shot.
After losing narrowly to hosts Australia in their last pool game, the Irish had come into last weekend’s contest confident they could reach the semifinal of the tournament for the first time. They’d beaten France three times in the last four seasons, and there was a genuine belief that a bit of history could be made.
But how wrong they were. If the outcome was a combination of some dazzling French play and Irish lassitude, the contest was effectively over at halftime, by which stage the winners were 27-0 in front. Five minutes into the second half, it was 37-0 and Wood and his players were looking at a complete humiliation. And though there was something of revival in the closing stages with three tries salvaging just a little pride, the reality was that France were already looking ahead to their semifinal against favorites England.
“It’s not much consolation winning the second half,” reflected coach Eddie O?Sullivan. “What we needed was that last 30 minutes in the first 30 minutes. We were playing one of the powerhouses of world rugby and we’re still not as good as them. If we get things right on certain days we can turn them over, but I don’t think it was really on this time.”
Against powerful Australia, a 17-16 loss the week before, the Irish scrum had been solid and the lineout impressive, but this time France simply dominated in every area of the pitch. Victor Costello was powerless to take the ball forward, Ronan O’Gara struggled at out-half before being replaced early in the second half by David Humphreys, and the losers’ defense was in serious difficulties from the time Olivier Magne scored the first try in the third minute.
More tries followed in quick succession from Christophe Dominici and Imanol Harinordoquy, with out-half Frederic Michalak maintaining a 100 percent record with his place kicks and eventually ending up with 23 points. Ireland, meanwhile, were unable to threaten and not even the presence of leading try scorer Denis Hickie — already back in Ireland with an Achilles tendon injury — would have made the slightest difference such was the gulf in class between the two teams.
If the Irish were surprisingly flat and listless, O’Sullivan was at a loss to articulate the reasons. Wood, however, was adamant that the team was in the right frame of mind.
“We just didn’t start well and we couldn’t even get into their half,” her said. “They pressurized us at every play to an extent that we hadn’t experienced at this World Cup. To be brutally honest, we were hanging on for a lot of the game, but I don’t think we played to our full potential.”
While lack of fitness wasn’t a factor in this instance, the Irish could well have been suffering from mental fatigue. Under extreme pressure to beat Argentina in the vital pool game, followed by the anti-climatic aftermath of losing to Australia by just a point when they should really have won, O’Sullivan’s side seemed jaded in everything they did until the last quarter when France had taken their foot off the pedal.
To his credit, Brian O’Driscoll crossed for two tries and Kevin Maggs also scored after a powerful run through the French midfield, while Humphreys converted all three, but by that stage the strains of “The Fields of Athenry” had been drowned out by chants of “Allez les Bleus” in Melbourne’s Telstra Dome.
In five games, the Irish only won one — against Argentina — of any significance. At least that victory means O’Sullivan can plan for the next tournament knowing his team will not have to pre-qualify, but at a stage when there appeared to be so much promise, this was a devastating defeat.
On the player front, second row Paul O’Connell emerged as the best Irish performer, while Simon Easterby, Shane Horgan, Wood, Hickie, Maggs and eventually O’Driscoll after a slow start, all had good tournaments.
“We did have some good performances at the World Cup and I think we’ve learned from it,” O’Sullivan said. “I also think the players should be proud of what they did, the odyssey is over and that’s a big shock for everyone. We lost two games in a row at the World Cup and this is where the real business is.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand comfortably defeated South Africa 29-9 in their quarterfinal to earn a semifinal place against holders Australia, who got the better of Scotland by 33-16. England were made to struggle against Wales before coming through 28-17 and they now meet France in the second semifinal.