Geordan Murphy's column

Everyone is very upset and disappointed by our World Cup exit.

We felt we were really in Sunday's game against Argentina when we got the second try.

Their forwards seemed to be tiring a bit as they were starting to slow the game down.

We had a glimmer of hope at that stage and we went after it but they played very smart for the final half hour and were keeping the ball in our half.

They had a very good kicking game. Because of the nature of the match, we had to try and hold onto the ball.

If you were playing a normal Test match and you weren't having to chase tries, you could afford to kick the ball back, look for the corners and line outs.

Unfortunately, we knew if we did that, they would take the line out and kick it back to us again.

We tried to run at then but they defended very well and kept kicking the ball back at us.

Before the match, we knew it was going to be a very tough ask but we all had belief that we could do it and that makes the disappointment even greater this morning.

There wasn't a whole lot said after the game. The changing room was like a morgue.

In terms of the entire three weeks, it's difficult to say why we didn't perform.

Maybe things will be a bit clearer in a week or two when we are all out of the fishbowl.

It might be better from outside the squad environment to try and analyse where we could have improved in different areas.

Maybe being together too long was a factor although in fairness, most of the squads at the tournament were in camp for quite a while.

Another theory doing the rounds is that we might have over-trained but I'm not convinced that this was the cause of our ills.

We did what we had to do and in fact, I don't think we overtrained at all.

As regards my abiding memory of the World Cup, the sense of disappointment will over-ride everything else.

I was involved in the squad for the first two games but got on for 15 seconds.

The atmosphere in the stadium before the game kicked off yesterday will be a positive memory and the Irish fans were tremendous but on the whole, I'll remember it as a disappointing few weeks.

I would have liked things to have gone better for the team first and foremost and I would have liked to have played a bigger part but there's nothing I can do about either of those things now.

The hotel being remote was kicked around by the press as a bit of issue and in fairness, we were due to stay in the Radisson Hotel in Bordeaux but we ended up outside the town in a pretty quiet location.

It could have been a factor in our performances but I don't think you can attribute our poor displays to one single issue.

As regards my own international future, I really enjoy playing for Ireland and I hope to keep at it for a while yet.

Of course, I won't always be wanted by Ireland and I won't always be good enough to play for Ireland.

I'll be having a few months off from international duty now and will take it from there.

Now is not the time to be making any snap decisions and if there is one to be made on that front, it will be made after I have the couple of months off.

As regards the coaching situation, from reading the papers today, Eddie O'Sullivan is going to honour his contract and I fully expect him to stay on.

I'll hopefully be back in action for Leicester against Gloucester this weekend, providing a thumb injury that I picked up on Sunday recovers sufficiently.

Life goes on.

Source: BBC Sport