Well, that was a pile of shite, wasn't it?

I can't believe I spent €70, gave up my Saturday, and practically froze me bollocks off sitting in Croke Park to watch such a dreadful performance. As suspected, no lessons have been learned from the World Cup. This was a cagey, inept showing by the Irish team. There was no creativity, just aimless punting of the ball upfield.

Our lineout was a joke. Maybe the calls were practiced in Irish, and no-one remembered that Rory Best, being from Ulster, probably doesn't speak Irish.

Last season, Ireland put eight tries on Italy in Rome in their last game of the Six Nations. Today they huffed and puffed to finish 1-1. There is no spark left in the Irish team. Their spirit seems to have been hollowed out. Contrast today's performance with Munster's win over London Wasps a couple of weeks ago. In Thomond Park, we had control, discipline and a game plan. They knew what they had to do and they did it. At one point in that game, Munster went through 22 phases of recycling the ball, and ended up with a try. Today, they never looked like completing half a dozen phases. Their control and discipline just wasn't there.

We're going to get stuffed by France next week. We'll probably lose to England and Wales too, if the brilliant match between them this afternoon was anything to go by. We might just squeak past Scotland, but then again, we might not.

I predicted Ireland finishing second or second last. After today's performance, I fear it will be the latter.