Brendan Fanning reflects on a disappointing end to an underwhelming season for Ireland in The Irish Independent.
"In a corporate box next door to our position in Suncorp Stadium last night, there was a TV tuned into the game we were watching. Handy for replays and that sort of thing.
"Long before the finish they had changed the channel. To a rugby league game between South Sydney and Melbourne. You might think this remarkable in a match where the margin was only seven points. It wasn't hard to understand though -- this was awful stuff. Two understrength teams: one of them knackered; the other so far removed from where they want to be as to make the Tri Nations a fearful prospect for them.
"What happens in that competition is for Robbie Deans to worry about. Declan Kidney has enough on his plate. It makes no sense to pan a team for playing so poorly when they are so far removed from a first-choice selection. At one stage in the second half, when Donncha O'Callaghan went to the blood bin and Dan Tuohy came on, you looked at the make-up of the Irish pack and wondered how this group could be on active service in a Test match."
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