Mon 09 Sep 2007Irish in full blush from the kick-offPool D/Ireland 32 Namibia 17:The scoreline tells
of little but embarrassment for Ireland in their opening assignment
of the World Cup, and that would have been the feeling for all
their supporters in the crowd too. Far from hitting the ground
running, Ireland continued in large part where they left off in the
warm-up matches. In truth, save for the bonus point, there was
nothing in the performance for Ireland to take from this game.Conditions were perfect on a floodlit, billiard-top pitch, but
the offloading, wit, composure and confidence that saw all but one
of this team cut loose in Rome on St Patrick's Day seem aeons
ago.