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Bowed: Ireland's players contemplate their early exit
Ireland star Geordan Murphy has offered an honest summary of his side's World Cup failure by admitting that the men in green were simply "not good enough".
Ireland finished third in Pool D following emphatic defeats by France and Argentina, sending them tumbling to their first group exit since the tournament was created 20 years ago.
Coach Eddie O'Sullivan believes the team paid the price for a lack of competitive action in the build-up, but Murphy insists the root cause runs far deeper.
"The simple fact is that we haven't done well, we are going home and we have to go from here," he said.
"It does not matter what ideas we had about ourselves, or what sort of ideas anyone had about us before the tournament.
"The basic fact is that we were not good enough and we are going home."
Ireland needed to beat Argentina by more than seven points while scoring a minimum of four tries in Sunday's group finale, but instead slumped to a 30-15 defeat.
Munster prop Marcus Horan admits his side left themselves with an impossible task against the Pumas as he reflected on a bitterly disappointing World Cup.
"We left ourselves with too much to do trying to get four tries against a team that has not conceded a try in the whole competition," said Horan.
"There are a lot of players in the dressing room who are hugely disappointed with the way we performed.
"A competition like this does not come around too often.
"It's hugely disappointing that we didn't produce the performance the team deserved."
Denis Hickie was at a loss to explain Ireland's decline from Six Nations runners-up to the rabble that performed so lamentably during the World Cup.
The Leinster wing, who played his last game of professional rugby against Argentina, revealed the last four weeks had been exasperating.
"I don't know why we lost our rugby in five months. We haven't performed well but it's hard to say why. It's very frustrating," he said.
"The mood in the camp is very good. Everybody has stayed positive. It's the Irish style."
O'Sullivan paid tribute to Hickie, who ended his career with an impressive strike rate of 29 tries from 62 Tests.
"Denis has been the consummate professional throughout. He's had a tough time with injuries and sometimes he's been in and out the team," the coach said.
"But he's worked tirelessly to stay in the game at the top level.
"He has a fantastic strike rate and has scored some fabulous tries. He leaves behind a great legacy and I wish him all the best."
