"I started a joke, that started the whole world ......" | Ireland v New Zealand.

James Ryan was a much bigger loss than billed too. We missed his aggression and workrate in the ruck and tackle.

You need to get over yourself. Nobody is gloating. Some just are able to see it for what it was. An enormous opportunity missed to make a final, given the gap between us and NZ has never been smaller (and never will be again) and the potential semi final was very winnable. And yet we came out and played miles below ourselves and allowed NZ build a 13 point lead. In the biggest game of these players' lives, they failed to deliver. And on the biggest stage, Irish rugby once again, failed to deliver.

We need to f*cking shut up for the next 4 years. Stop anointing ourselves as the "best in the world" when w haven't earned it. Stop overhyping our players. Stop pretending November tests mean anything. Stop going mad celebrating 6N wins while other teams are prepping for the world cup. And stop doing laps of honour after pool wins. Until we actually get past the first hurdle at a World Cup, we need to collectively shut up. But we won't. We'll do exactly what we've always done and fail again.

Is your argument then that two good teams can never face each other?

Ah lads, it's clear the players were under huge pressure. It was a massive game and you could see the tension on their faces before the game. They went 13-0 down, they made mistakes they usually wouldn't make, they were tight and didn't play with freedom, some ran out of energy early, these are all clear signs that the pressure and the occasion got to them. If you look up the definition of choking in sport, the performance by Ireland on Saturday matches the definition. It seems like a harsh term but it happens. Ireland choked on Saturday, that's sadly the fact. New Zealand have choked in the past, so have we multiple times. Denying it happened means you can't learn from it. We have to accept that it happened, figure out why, get information from teams and individuals who've overcome choking and implement processes to try to ensure it doesn't happen again.

You're kinda glossing over that this is a poor New Zealand team by their standards. They played with 14 for 20 minutes of the match. If we played to our potential, we would have won comfortably. We didn't play to our potential because the occasion got to us. All the signs are there as I pointed out. We choked. It is hard to accept but we have to accept it, blaming bad luck or the referee will mean we don't learn anything from this and the same thing happens in 4 years time.