BRENDAN GALLAGHER VERDICT

If ever you want a text book example of a team peaking 12 months too early, Ireland and the 2019 World Cup will do very nicely.
And alas that’s a dismal way for Joe Schmidt to end his otherwise admirable term as coach and a far from satisfactory way for skipper Rory Best to walk off into the sunset with his children after his retirement from Test rugby although the massive reception both received from the crowd will soften the blow.
But it does illustrate how elite Test rugby is lived on the knife edge. Get it slightly wrong, delay tough cal...