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Player ratings as Ireland crash out in the quarter-finals again

There was bitter disappointment again in a Rugby World Cup quarter-final on a day that Ireland we...



There was bitter disappointment again in a Rugby World Cup quarter-final on a day that Ireland were just never at the races.

No one on the team really got going and while not everybody was terrible you can't afford to be at anything but your best against the All Blacks.

Check out the player ratings below after Ireland's World Cup dreams were dashed once again.

15. Rob Kearney: 4
Didn't really do anything of note in the whole game. Dealth with New Zealand's kicks well enough but didn't have much to do on a dark day for Irish rugby.

14. Keith Earls: 4
Same as above really. Ireland's outside backs didn't get many opportunities in a game that the opposition utterly dominated. Not terrible but not good enough on a day that desperately needed someone to stand up.

13. Garry Ringrose: 5
Probably Ireland's best back of the day but unfortunately that's not saying much. Probably one of Ireland's best performers at the World Cup but again that unfortunately isn't saying much.

12. Robbie Henshaw: 4
Looked rusty, which is understandable considering the man has played very little rugby in recent months. Butchered a certain try but made up for it almost immediately in fairness to him.

11. Jacob Stockdale: 3
A day that the young Ulster winger will want to forget. He has plenty of time left in his career and could well be one of Ireland's top performers but he just wasn't good enough today.

10. Johnny Sexton: 4
The 2018 World Rugby Player of the year was supposed to be the man to lead us to victory but in the end, he was nowhere near the level required. Made all the more disappointing after Sexton was one of the few Irish players that actually looked to be in form at the World Cup.

9. Conor Murray: 3
The man at the epicentre of a gameplan that was utterly ineffective against a team that can attack from anywhere. Why Murray insisted on kicking the ball back to the All Blacks time and time again is a mystery.

8. CJ Stander: 5
Played an important role in Ireland's opening try and can realistically claim the penalty try as his own. Not bad but again, just not good enough to really trouble New Zealand.

7. Josh van der Flier: 5
Tackled well and caused a little bit of trouble at ruck time but didn't come close to halting the All Blacks onslaught in the end.

6. Peter O'Mahony: 6
Probably Ireland's best player of the day. Made a couple of important steals in the lineout and in the rucks and was harshly penalised for a pretty innocuous clear out in the ruck on the stroke of half time.

5. James Ryan: 5
He had never lost to New Zealand before today but he was second best to both Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick. He can take comfort in knowing he should get plenty more chances in World Cups.

4. Iain Henderson: 4
You would hardly know the big Ulsterman was playing today. Didn't make any obvious errors like some of his teammates but he was never really at the races.

3. Tadhg Furlong: 5
Just wasn't his rampaging self today, although the scrum did perform well enough, I suppose. He was instrumental in beating them last November but it just wasn't to be today.

2. Rory Best: 4
A sad way for Ireland's captain to finish his career. The lineout functioned well enough, but when Ireland needed a leader to step up early on in the game Best just couldn't turn the ship away.

1. Cian Healy: 4
Fairly non-existant today. Ireland desperately needed some go-forward ball and Healy wasn't able to deliver in the loose against a far better team.

Replacements: 6
In fairness to today's bench, most replacements performed better than the players that started ahead of them. Ireland's two tries came late in the day so they can take a small amount of pride in helping to get Ireland on the scoreboard.

 

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