Murphy says Ireland simply not good enough as inquest begins

Geordan Murphy has offered an honest summary of Ireland's World Cup failure by admitting: "We just weren't good enough." Ireland finished third in Pool D following emphatic defeats by France and Argentina, sending them out at the pool stage for the first time.

"The simple fact is that we haven't done well, we are going home and we have to go from here," Murphy 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 four tries in the finale to the pool stage on Sunday, but instead slumped to a 30-15 defeat. The Munster prop Marcus Horan believes his side faced an impossible task against the Pumas.

"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," Horan said. "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 struggled to explain Ireland's decline from Six Nations runners-up to the rabble that performed so lamentably during the World Cup. "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 professional career against Argentina with 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 of 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."