Keith Earls crashes over for Ireland's opener at Croke Park © Getty Images

Usually when Wales lose, I'm in a black dog of a mood for some hours afterward - inconsolable and, frankly, rather irrational. But with the proper application of time, perspective, and let's not forget a fair number of fermented wheat beverages, I usually manage to look on the bright side of things. On Saturday however, things were rather different - I was doing scrum.com's text commentary for the game, so I had my impartial hat on, and it wasn't until afterwards that I had the chance to process the performance. But rather than get cross and move on as usual, I went to bed still irked, and woke up the same on Sunday morning.

I think this has a lot to do with the sheer futility of Wales' performance in Dublin. After most defeats there's something - "At least we played well", "We scored some great tries", "We defended well", "At least we provide great value for money"... and so on. Saturday though, well there was nothing there to take out of it, no positives, no ray of light to hang our hopes on, not after the first 20 minutes at least. For that first quarter, while we were far from spectacular, we weren't hitting that big red 'Self Destruct' button, which I suppose you could call a positive. But then, just like the England game, a moronic lapse of discipline opened the door, which the ever-clinical Irish were more than happy to burst through, and just like that it was over. The Irish defence was at its smothering best, and our lack of dynamism at the breakdown limited the quick ball, but beyond that, they had to do almost nothing to win the game.

So problems then? Well there were so many, I think I'll need to make a list:

Number one: the attack. There was no fairytale comeback this week, and that had a lot to do with the impotence we showed with ball in hand. Credit to the Irish defence, but any Wales team who wins the ball 25 - 25! - times in the opponent's 22, I don't care if they're up against 15 Joe Worsleys, should cross the whitewash, and more than once too. But gone was the champagne stuff of the last two games - the imaginative, breathtaking rugby - replaced with schoolboy patterns, knuckleheaded route-one plodding and an apparent allergy to offloading in the tackle. It was so inept, so devoid of the spark that has inhabited every Welsh team since time immemorial, that it leads credence the impression many of us got this autumn that the current Welsh team are incapable of mixing pragmatism and flair - it's one or the other, when both are needed for a team to have any sort of success against a decent team. I honestly don't know whether it's the coaching, a lack of rugby intelligence, or the age old Welsh problem of believing their own hype - answering that is supposed to be Warren Gatland's job, and he's taking his time with the answers...

Number two: the defence. The stats show that Wales only missed six tackles to Ireland's nine, but Ireland only bothered to attack when they felt like scoring a try, and when they did it was the result of a missed first-up tackle, a botched defensive assignment, or poor awareness. It's been a theme so far this championship - when teams exert pressure, even in a basic, power-running way, Wales bend and break like a soggy breadstick. Shaun Edwards' Wasps have hardly covered themselves in glory defensively this season, and Wales are following his lead - a change of approach or a change of coach could well be on the cards come the summer. Another frustrating aspect of the defence was again Wales' failure to defend with any kind of competence when down to 14. It's hard to for teams playing with a man disadvantage, but there's no way that shipping two tries for a yellow card is acceptable. A lot of this has to do with the players onfield composure - they're panicking when down to 14 and playing stupid rugby that invites the opposition to test a defence that creaks even with 15. It's a far cry from another yellow card at Croke Park, in the Grand Slam season of 2008, when Wales lost Mike Phillips for ten minutes, but rather than panic, they kept the ball, played risk-free, tight rugby, and ran down the clock without conceding. It was a game-changing period, Wales were never on the back foot again, and it's baffling how the same coaches, with many of the same players, can handle the same situation with such incompetence.

Number three - the lineout. You don't need me to tell you about this, though the Western Mail had the gall to imply that Paul O'Connell and Co weren't as completely dominant as it's humanly possible for a team to be at the lineout, but any of us who actually watched will have been sobered by how awful we were. It's the same old story for Wales, and it baffles me how every single other rugby nation in the world is capable of having a consistent and functioning lineout, but Wales have never ever managed it in the modern era. I don't know why, neither do you, neither have an entire string of Welsh coaches - but it's a problem that just can't be ignored anymore. When sides such as South Africa, Ireland and England are so effective at disrupting your ball, you can't give them a head start or you'll never be able to create anything.

I could go on and on, picking apart every little facet of the performance, but that way madness lies - it was a game of such poor quality, that it felt like we'd hit rock bottom, it can't get any worse than that... we hope. The one thing I'll bring up before I finish, is that Gatland spoke after the game about how the injuries we've had this tournament have allowed us to build some squad depth, but I'd say that it's just highlighted that beyond the first choice 15, we're down to a bunch of players that just aren't good enough to wear the Wales shirt. Whether it's due to inexperience, getting long in the tooth, or just lacking ability, we've fielded a fair few players this year who have no business being there.

The truth hurts, and the truth is that Wales are a threadbare team, who are nowhere near as good as they think they are. A big win against Italy at Cardiff next week might save Warren Gatland's job for the time being, but I don't imagine many people at the WRU are queuing up to offer him a contract extension at the moment...

Josh Gardner