Schmidt: Bad start cost us

IRELAND head coach Joe Schmidt bemoaned his side’s lack of experience as they went out of the World Cup quarterfinals for the sixth successive time. The Irish trailed 17-0 early on and Schmidt said: ‘You can’t afford to give a good team like that such a head start. But at the same time at 23-20 we worked an overlap that we didn’t quite take. It showed a lack of experience and that was very frustrating. It either comes off for us or for them and we didn’t quite get the rub of the green.’ Without inspirational captain Paul O’Connell, Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony and the suspended Sean O’Brien it was always going to be a tough task for Ireland, but Schmidt refused to make excuses for his side. He said: ‘I would probably say that’s the nature of the game. I think if you look back, Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy did a super job. Iain Henderson and Devin Toner were tireless and Ian Madigan acquitted himself well. The players that weren’t available are proud of them as well.’ Acting Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip said: ‘We’re obviously very disappointed to lose in such a big game. We didn’t help ourselves at the start. We fought back, but we gave ourselves too much to do. ‘Argentina played a very expansive game, they stretched us and they took their scores when they got them.’ Prior to kick-off, the Pumas looked visibly fired-up during the anthems while head coach Daniel Hourcade fought back tears watching from the Millennium Stadium stands. ‘It’s part of our DNA, we play with our hearts in our hands, we feel it inside,’ he said. Argentina football legend Diego Maradona has promised to come and watch next Sunday’s semi-final against Australia.