George Hook has been casting his eye back over the history of the Rugby World Cup, and turns his attention this year to the tournament in 2007.
Ireland's World Cup fate seems to be tied to the nations of France and Argentina, and 2007 was no exception as Eddie O'Sullivan's side ended up in a group with both sides, along with Namibia and Georgia.
The team was coming off the back of a fantastic Six Nations and entered the tournament with serious ambitions of winning it, something which seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the media.
The groups, for the large part, went to plan for most of the major nations, except in Pool B where Wales were knocked out after a loss to Fiji, while newcomers Portugal ended up at the bottom of their group.
As for Ireland, their disappointing showings against Namibia and Georgia showed that Ireland were not in a good place for this tournament, in particular during the closing stages of the game as Georgia hammered away at the Irish defence with the match on the line, Ireland only leading by a score of 14-10.
A comfortable French win made things even worse for Ireland, leaving O'Sullivan's side needing a win against Argentina to get through, who had already beaten the hosts in their opening game. They were thoroughly beaten by Argentina, 30-15, and were sent home with their tails between their legs.
As New Zealand fans arrived in their droves to watch their side beat France, there was a twist in the tale that left George with the lasting image of grown men crying, tears pouring down their cheeks as they headed back home after a qaurter-final loss.
Argentina were knocked out by South Africa, even though George is convinced they should have won that match and the whole tournament, while France were unable to put out another strong performance after their heroics against New Zealand, and are sent packing by England.
With the final in the balance just after the half time break between England and South Africa, a controversial disallowed try for Mark Cueto perhaps sealed England's fate as South Africa went on to claim the Webb Ellis trophy once again.
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