Ten minutes to play in the World Cup quarter-final last autumn, and Tadhg Beirne leaps to gather Rónan Kelleher’s throw; nine and 30 seconds, and Beirne, Kelleher and the rest of the Irish forwards are driving together towards New Zealand’s tryline; nine left exactly, and the All Black pack has split under the pressure, and Kelleher’s driving ahead and diving over the tryline, Conor Murray riding behind him, pushing him on into Jordie Barrett’s tackle. As the three of them go down to the ground, Barrett grips Kelleher’s midriff, pulls him up, away from the turf, and flips him around just before he can get the ball down.
The replays show Kelleher was only three inches away from scoring a try, giving Ireland a one-point lead and a shot at the conversion, too. Ireland’s last good chance came and went in that moment. They ended up losing by four points, 28-24. Four years of work turned on a margin the length of a blade of grass. So it goes. Ireland have made it to the World Cup quarter-finals eight times and lost every one, in every which way. They were pipped in the final minutes 19-18 by Australia in 1991, when Michael Lynagh scored in the corner, and ripped apart by New Zealand 46-14 in 2019, when the All Blacks put seven tries past them.
