Retracing the painful steps: Ireland aiming to buck trend of World Cup quarter-final woes

Since the tournament’s inception in 1987, Ireland have lost seven quarter-finals, a quarter-final play-off and been knocked out in the pool stages.

For a country with such a proud history, Ireland’s World Cup record has long been the stuff of nightmares.

They came close in 1991, but far too often they have been guilty of not showing up when it matters most on the world stage.

In their last two quarter-final exits – to Argentina (2015) and New Zealand (2019) – Ireland conceded more than 40 points in each game, which wouldn’t exactly fill you with confidence heading into tonight’s showdown with the All Blacks at Stade de France.

For all that head coach Andy Farrell and his players will be doing their best to ignore the weight of history, there is no doubt that it exists.

There have been times when Ireland have been unlucky with injuries, while ‘performance anxiety’ was blamed for the failure in Japan four years ago.

In the early days of the World Cup, Ireland were still grappling with rugby turning professional, whereas nowadays everything is in place for Farrell’s men to succeed.

The fact Ireland have never made a semi-final has been used as a stick to beat them with, and you can be sure the usual tropes will be trotted out again if they fall short again tonight.

However, there is every reason to believe that this Ireland team can go where no Ireland team have gone before, even if their World Cup record does not make for pleasant reading.

1987 quarter-final

June 7, Sydney

Australia 33 Ireland 15

The beginning of the quarter-final hurt arrived at the inaugural World Cup, with co-hosts Australia scoring 24 unanswered points in a rampant first-half spell that Ireland could not recover from.

“In an intensely physical game, the Aussies blitzkrieged us in the space of 20 minutes,” Neil Francis wrote in the Irish Independent years later.

1991 quarter-final

October 20, Dublin

Australia 19 Ireland 18

History repeated itself four years later on home soil as the Wallabies once again broke Irish hearts thanks to Michael Lynagh’s late converted try.

“We had been on top of them for a good part of the game, but it wasn’t to be,” said Gordon Hamilton, who scored Ireland’s try that day.

1995 quarter-final

October 6, Durban

France 36 Ireland 12

A dark day for Irish rugby, with Gerry Murphy’s men on the receiving end of a hammering by a France side inspired by Thierry Lacroix, who scored 26 points.

Les Bleus coach Pierre Berbizier summed up the gulf between the two teams: “We are capable of playing champagne rugby, but we are still trying to get the cork out.”

1999 quarter-final play-off October 20, Lens

Argentina 28 Ireland 24

Even the mere mention of Lens brings about a large dollop of PTSD for some fans, with Ireland humbled by Argentina following Diego Albanese’s 72nd-minute try.

“Probably the worst I’ve ever felt after a rugby match,” a candid Brian O’Driscoll acknowledged. “A bitter pill and a serious low.”

2003 quarter-final

November 9, Melbourne

France 43 Ireland 21

Eight years after their last-eight drubbing at the hands of France in Durban, Ireland were destroyed by Les Bleus again. Trailing 27-0 at the break, there was no way back, despite outscoring the French in the second half.

“We were battening down the hatches every two minutes only to have them ripped off again,” said Keith Wood, who retired after the game.

2007 pool stages

Ireland were so poor in France that they didn’t even make it out of the pool stages, the only time that has happened. Defeats to the hosts and Argentina left Eddie O’Sullivan’s men heading for an early exit.

“I wouldn’t use the word disaster – I think very disappointing is fairer,” O’Sullivan said at the time.

2011 quarter-final

October 8, Wellington

Wales 22 Ireland 10

Expectations were high going into this one but rather than Ireland making it to the last four for the first time, it was Wales who wrote themselves into the history books by outscoring Declan Kidney’s side by three tries to one.

“It’ll be a hard one to take, there’ll be a few long days for the supporters as much as anyone else, but they’re good men, they’ll rise again,” Kidney said.

2015 quarter-final

October 18, Cardiff

Argentina 43 Ireland 20

A heavy injury toll following the final pool game against France left Ireland on the back foot. Even still, they underperformed, with Argentina’s scintillating attack shredding the leaky Irish defence.

“You can’t afford to give a team a head start like that . . . it’s probably a little bit of a lack of experience, and that’s frustrating,” head coach Joe Schmidt said.

2019 quarter-final

October 19, Tokyo

New Zealand 46 Ireland 14

The warning signs had been evident throughout the year, but Ireland still believed they could break new ground at a World Cup, only to be ruthlessly stopped by the All Blacks in Japan.

“Heartbroken wouldn’t be too far away from how I feel and how the players feel right now,” said Schmidt after what was his last game in charge.

Farrell will be hoping that his current crop don’t get added to this unwanted list come full-time in Paris tonight as they aim to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all.