It was far from convincing, but Ireland ultimately got the job done in their final World Cup warmup game against Samoa this evening.
The performance was quite a poor one, failing to find any sort of flow in their play over the course of the game. The weather in Bayonne didn't help, with the wet weather making it difficult to hold onto the ball.
Ireland would get a couple of tries at key moments in the game, something that was enough to secure the win as Samoa tired as the fixture went on.
Jerry Flannery has theory on Ireland performance against Samoa
Quite a few players would have hoped to improve their World Cup prospects this evening, and while some of them managed it, others might have pressed the issue too much in their quest to impress Andy Farrell.
The team certainly lacked the cohesion that we have become accustomed to seeing from Ireland in recent times, something that Jerry Flannery believes came down to the circumstances of the game.
Speaking on RTÉ, the former Munster hooker said that an individual approach from too many players contributed to what was an overall poor team performance.
They need to win the game, but the issue is that this is a game where certain guys need to put their hand up.
When you look at the conditions out there, there has been so many errors and so many dropped balls, you're almost better off carrying the ball. You're almost better off kicking and putting the ball behind the Samoans, making them turn and play back.
Everyone is trying to get on that plane, everyone is trying to make their way to the World Cup and impress. We're trying to force the game a little bit in my opinion...
Just simplify it and play the conditions. Understand that defences have the upper hand when the ball is that slippy, because when you're passing it it can take two gos to try and catch it. That's when you want to try and use the kicking game.
They did that at times, but there were other times when guys were going 'this is my shot, I need to perform here'.
I think that's playing on the mind a little bit.
That is certainly an interesting take, one that makes a lot of sense.
It was clear that some players were attempting to push the envelope too much in the way they attempted to stand out individually, especially in the first half. This won't be an issue for Ireland in the World Cup, but it does go a long way towards explaining why they failed to impress on this occasion.
With the inconsequential fixtures now out of the way, the players will be looking forward to getting their tournament campaign underway on September 9th.
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