The 15th of September 2007 will remain as one of the lowest days in Irish rugby of the professional era. A stubborn Georgian team managed to frustrate Ireland's golden generation, and it was only Denis Leamy's arms that prevented Georgia from scoring the winning try to embarrass Ireland even further.
Ireland may have gotten away with a win, but it felt like a loss - especially after Ireland crashed out of the pool following defeats to France and Argentina.
With Ireland's form in this World Cup - there is no fear that a repeat of 2007 is happening. That doesn't mean that reminders aren't everywhere, and Georgia's stellar performance against New Zealand last night reminded one Irish survivor of that night eight years ago.
Paul O'Connell is thriving in this World Cup, and he says he's enjoying sitting down to watch every game with the rest of the squad:
I can’t remember a World Cup before where, as a group, we’ve sat around on couches and watched the games. That’s built the excitement for us.
But how did O'Connell feel watching last night's game?
I felt better about our performance in 2007 against Georgia after watching the first half!
I know that some of the errors that the All Blacks made were unforced, but certainly a lot of them were forced as well by really hard line speed and organised defence. It was a brilliant game to watch and I thought Georgia were excellent.
It's been a positive feature of this tournament that the likes of Japan, Georgia, and Canada have punched above their weight and been highly competitive. The Georgian head coach Milton Haig called for Georgia to get more recognition from this tournament, by playing more games against Tier 1 nations.
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Picture credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
