The displaced RTE rugby panel gave their response to Ireland's 23 point defeat in Dtwo yesterday, an event which was hosted by the Independent.ie website.
Reflecting on the defeat, George Hook blamed Madigan's kicking, the injuries and Ireland's limited gameplan.
Where was the match lost? You would have to say, sadly, that Madigan's kicking at restart and from the hand wasn't good enough.
2.) Go back to the first twenty minutes when the match was decided, every collision Argentina won. Now you would have to think that O'Mahony, O'Connell and O'Brien would have put up a better physical presence than that.
Would Argentina still have won? Probably. Because we are so limited in the way we're approaching the game in the northern hemisphere. And the prophets of open rugby - France - are gone. So, there's no one carrying the flag for moving the ball to the wing. It's incredible our inability to get the ball to the wing, which is the first principle of rugby union.
Pope focused on the differences between the hemisphere, and roped in the limitations of the other Six Nations countries.
Look, what do you get with Wales? You get Jamie Roberts bashing it up the midfield, you get George North bashing it up the midfield. They're not hard to defend against. This is predicated on a Six Nations style of rugby... We've gone back to the days of just picking the biggest players we can pick. Let's try to energetic, skilful, dynamic players on the ball and play the way Argentina play.
The language policy in Dtwo was a touch more lax. At one stage while Pope and McGurk were sniggering at the sight of Hook mounting another of his hobby horses, the latter told them to 'stop acting the bollocks'.
McGurk, with his keen sense of history, held the Irish Christian brothers ultimately responsible for yesterday for it was they who brought rugby to Argentina. The Irish branch of the congregation of Christian brothers have yet to offer a response.
