IRELAND'S quest for a maiden World Cup semi-final will now last at least 32 years.
Centre Robbie Henshaw - pivotal to the 2019 charge - was not even alive for the first two of Ireland's now six quarter-final defeats. Another last-eight loss churns up a new cycle, demanding a comprehensive overhaul.
In August, Ireland stormed to third in the world rankings; just two months later, Joe Schmidt's men had bowed out of the World Cup with an overall performance only equalling their previous par.
Taskmaster Kiwi boss Schmidt was the man to whip Ireland into a unit greater than the sum of their parts. The former Leinster coach did just that in the two years running into the tournament, but at the critical moment, all his build-up crumbled.
Few sides in the world could cope without titans of the calibre of Paul O'Connell, Peter O'Mahony, Seán O'Brien and Johnny Sexton. That's what Ireland were forced to do for their quarter-final, and were duly overawed 43-20 by Argentina.
It would be easy to explain away the loss on that absent quartet. Instead, it is important to examine the shortfall of a squad that, while denuded, was not decimated.
Schmidt places arguably more stall in the work done in Test training camps than experience and form at provincial level. That outlook is evidenced by the Ireland boss selecting Jordi Murphy at six for the Argentina clash, rather than starting Donnacha Ryan at lock and moving Iain Henderson to the back-row.
Munster lock Ryan admitted he was battling to make up for lost time in learning Schmidt's complex gameplan, even in the World Cup pool stages. The 31-year-old only ended a 29-month Test absence through a foot injury in the World Cup warm-up matches, but made an immediate impact.
Without captain O'Connell, O'Mahony and O'Brien, Ireland desperately needed enforcers against the Pumas. Schmidt's decision to promote Murphy rather than the gritty Ryan left Ireland fairly short on tight-game exponents that the Pumas exposed.
And yet, for all the reliance on training work behind the scenes, Schmidt's sharp focus on his frontline stars also threw up several anomalies. Ireland spent their quarter-final week fighting to have linchpin Sexton fit to start, only for the former Racing Metro fly-half to lose that battle.
Ian Madigan stepped in to boss the backline, trusted to repeat his heroics of the 24-9 pool-stage victory over France. Against Argentina, however, either Madigan froze, or Ireland had built no backline moves to suit their back-up playmaker. The latter seems far more likely, but also puzzling.
Under the beautiful auspices of hindsight, Ireland still have plenty of room for improvement. Madigan must not be asked to play Sexton's game when called into battle. The attack-minded fly-half cannot emulate Sexton's line-kicking, so should not be asked to try. Instead, in Sexton's absence the burden for tactical kicking must fall on scrum-half Conor Murray.
Ireland seemingly had no set moves to suit Madigan's creative talents, a head-scratcher given Schmidt's famed ability to tailor specific American Football-style plays almost on the hoof.
Now inimitable captain O'Connell has retired from the Test arena, Ireland's choice of skipper will prove revealing. Choose Jamie Heaslip and Schmidt must recalibrate how Ireland self-motivate. Heaslip cannot drive the emotional intensity in the same manner as O'Connell, and should not be challenged to that end.
Munster flanker O'Mahony can continue O'Connell's leadership style and, at 26, would represent a long-term captaincy choice.
Finally, Schmidt could perhaps benefit from developing an avuncular edge. Top-class man management revolves around almost finding a different method for each player. Schmidt's proscriptive approach demands all fit his framework.
Blur the edges slightly and Ireland may just make the jump from structurally sound to strategically adept. Recruiting a new defence coach will be Schmidt's most pressing concern given the departure to Ulster of the highly-regarded and ever-popular Les Kiss. Former Australian rugby league star Kiss will be a hard act to follow, but Irish bosses at least have some time with no contact planned before the turn of the year.
All told then, Ireland's World Cup campaign just about wiped its face, and the same goes for Schmidt. To excel for Ireland now, the former schoolteacher must reinvent himself, his staff and his squad.
