[caption id="attachment_67237" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Jonathan Sexton, Stephen Ferris, Paul O'Connell and Cian Healy pondering the inevitable near the end of the game. "]
NO complaints. Wales were simply too good against an Irish side that never managed to play to their full potential in last Saturday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Wellington.
In short, Wales did to Ireland what Ireland had done to Australia. They didn't allow the Irish team to produce the sort of rugby which had brought them such impressive victories over the Wallabies and Italy.
Quite understandably, there was a genuine confidence that Ireland could make it through to their first World Cup semi-final. But this was always a 50/50 game.
It was down to which side got it right on the day. In the event, that side was Wales who combined a wonderful defensive display with an ability to make excellent use of their opportunities.
Ireland, by comparison, just never got going. Or perhaps Welsh supporters would argue that they were never allowed get going.
It was probably a bit of both. The Welsh side's old-fashioned method of tackling around the ankles stopped the much feared Irish back-row of Sean O'Brien, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip in its tracks.
Once that happened, Ireland were in trouble. There's a case for saying that Ireland's approach was flawed in that they ignored three early goalkicking chances, admittedly from wide positions.
Okay, there was a wind but Ireland had Ireland had one of the best goalkickers in the tournament in Ronan O'Gara. And surely he was picked ahead of Jonathan Sexton on the basis that he would take his kicking opportunities.
As it was, O'Gara was given a torrid time. Twice he kicked the ball dead and, on another two occasions he lost possession tried to expose his lack of physicality.
Then again, Wales dealt pretty effectively with all of the more physical players in the Irish set-up. They were helped, it has to be said, by an Irish side which made far too many errors, both in attack and defense.
Apart from the occasions when Tommy Bowe joined the line, the Irish back division never really functioned. Brian O'Driscoll did his best, but at 32, he is clearly not the player he once was.
Neither, for that matter, is Gordon D'Arcy. Both managed to bring back memories of their very best days in the demolition of Italians but Wales proved to be a very different proposition.
For one thing, they are a very young side, brimming with confidence. Their coach, former Ireland boss Warren Gatland, did his homework really well, as did their defensive coach Shaun Edwards.
As O'Driscoll admitted afterwards: "To a degree, we failed to do ourselves justice. But you have to earn what you get in test rugby and today were off the pace.
"That's the bitter disappointment of it. It's very disappointing collectively while personally I won't get this opportunity again. That really sucks, but life goes on."
To give him his due, O'Driscoll didn't make excuses. He accepted that "Ireland were outplayed in the second half when Wales scored two good tries."
But he also admitted that there was "maybe some weak defense." In truth, there wasn't any maybe about it, but, at the same time, Wales have to be given credit for availing of those chances.
What's more, they got it right from the kick-off putting pressure on Ireland and taking the lead with wing Shane Williams try. To complete matters, out-half Rhys Priestman converted from the touchline.
Although they had the majority of possession, Ireland just couldn't penetrate the Welsh defense, apart from one O'Gara penalty. So, with Leigh Halfpenny banging a kick over from the halfway for Wales, Ireland went in at the interval 10-3 behind.
A poor return for a lot of effort but Ireland seemed to get right back in it when Bowe gave left-wing Keith Earls the opportunity to squeeze over in the corner for a try which O'Gara converted. Unfortunately, exactly the opposite happened.
Ireland ran out of gas as Wales took control, scoring two tries through center Jonathan Davies and scrum-half Mike Phillips. With Priestland landing one of the conversions, Ireland were suddenly 22-10 adrift and their World Cup dreams had ended.
Sexton came on to replace O'Gara while the unlucky Andrew Trimble was given a late run instead of Earls but by then it was all to late. It was a bitterly disappointing end to a tournament that had promised so much following those victories over Australia and Italy.
What next for this team? Quite a few are quite clearly near their end of their careers with O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, O'Gara, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan and Mike Ross in their 30s.
O'Gara, at 34 is the oldest. O'Driscoll is 32 but he has taken a lot of punishment in a magnificent career and he cannot go on forever.
The problem is how do you replace him both as a player and as a captain? It will be fascination to see how long he continues, much may depend on his form with Leinster in the Heineken Cup.
If Ireland want to know how to bring young playes through, they only have to look at Wales. Apart from the 34-year-old Shane Williams, all of their back division are in their 20s with George North only 19 and Leigh Halfpenny 22.
The same, more or less, applies to their pack with two 30-year-olds and all of the back-row in their early twenties. Gatland has to be given credit for backing those guys.
It will now be interesting to see what Ireland do. While Kidney can argue that he doesn't quite have the same choice of young players as Gatland, it's surely time to try and get a better mix.
Westmeath are champs
The All-Ireland Women's intermediate crown went to Westmeath who just saw off the Cavan challenge in Sunday's second replayed Croke Park final by 1-9 to 1-8.
They came from five points behind to land their first All-Ireland crown. Cavan had looked in control when Grainne Smith's second half goal gave them a 1-8 to 0-6 advantage.
But Westmeath came roaring back to snatch the most dramatic of victories. Fittingly, the winning point came from their skipper Elaine Finn
Athy win in Kildare
ON the club front, Athy won their first Kildare Senior Football Championship title in 24 years by beating Carbury by 2-11 to 2-7.
The groundwork was done in the opening quarter. By the 16th minute, Athy had 2-6 on the bard to establish an eight point lead.
To give them their due, Carbury never gave up but the young Athy managed to stay out in front to record a historic victory.
Elsewhere, beaten All-Ireland finalists St Brigid's retained the Roscommon football crown with a hard-earned 1-9 to 0-7 success over Elphin. The losers finished with 14 men after centre-back Paddy O'Connor was sent off in the first half.
Lutton won the Monaghan title, beating Scotstown by 1-6 to 0-8, Edenderry surprised Clara 0-9 to 0-8 in Offaly, Mt Leinster Ranger defeated Naomh Eoin 2-12 to 3-5 in Carlow, and Clough-Ballacolla got the better of Portlaoise 1-10 o 0-11 in Laois.
The big final on the club Hurling front saw Oulart-the-Ballagh edge out Rathnure by 1-10 to 0-11 in the Wexford final. It was Oulart-the-Ballagh's third title on the trot.
The Kilkenny semi-finals were also of interest with Ballyhale Shamrocks and James Stephens making the final. Henry Shefflin scored 1-8 in helping Ballyhal Shamrocks get the better of reigning Leinster champions O'Loughlin Gaels by 2-18 to 3-11.
In the other semi-final, James Stephens knew too much for St Martin's, winning by 3-16 to 2-10. Finally, there was a shock in Galway where Portuma, missing the suspended Jo Canning, went out of the championship when they went down to a shock 1-10 to 0-12 defeat at the hands of St Thomas at the quarter-final stage.
Dub sub gets nod, but not skipper
THE absence of Dublin captain Bryan Cullen was the main talking point when the nominations for the 2011 All-Stars were announced.
No one was greatly surprised to see the new All-Ireland champions get 12 nominations but the exclusion of Cullen came as a major surprise. Interestingly, Kevin McManamon, a substitute in the semi-final and final, was included.
To be fair, McManamon played a major role after coming on in both games, his goal turning the All-Ireland decider. Kerry are the next best represented in the list of 45 names with nine, Donegal have seven and Mayo five.
Beaten Leinster finalists Wexford will surely feel disappointed only to have one, Ben Brosnan included. The same applies to defeated Ulster finalists Derry who also have one Eoin Bradley in the nominations.
Clare to face Waterford
DAVY FITZGERALD must have suspected that it was going to happen. Clare, his new charges, have been drawn against the side he formerly managed Waterford in their opening second round match in the Munster 2012 Hurling Championship.
The winners will go through to the Munster final. On the other side of the draw, defeated All-Ireland finalists Tipperary must take on Limerick in the first round with the winners going through to face Cork in the second round (semi-final).
In Leinster, Kilkenny and Dublin are on course to meet in the semi-final. First though, Dublin must beat the winners of Laois and Carlow.
On the football front, the Dubs will open their defence of the All-Ireland crown with a Leinster quarter-final match against the winners of Westmeath and Louth. If they win that, the could face Wexford in the semi-final.
On the other side of the draw, Kildare face Offaly in their opening quarter-final game.
Defeated All-Ireland finalists Kerry must take on Tipperary for a third successive year in the Munster Championship. Arch rivals Cork are in the same side of the draw.
Champions Donegal face a tough battle to retain the title as they have a preliminary round match against Cavan. Should they get through that there will be a repeat of last season's final against Derry.
Connacht champions Mayo start their defence against the winners of London and Leitrim, while New York open their challenge against Sligo.
2012 Senior Football Championship.
Ulster - (Preliminary Round) Cavan v Donegal. (First Round) Armagh v Tyrone; winners of Cavan and Donegal v Derry; Fermanagh v Down; Monaghan v Antrim.
Leinster - (Preliminary Round) - Westmeath v Louth; Longford v Laois; Meath v Wicklow. (First Round) - Winners of Westmeath and Louth v Dublin; winners of Longford and Laois v Wexford; winners of Meath and Wicklow v Carlow; Offaly v Kildare.
Munster (First Round) - Waterford v Limerick; Kerry v Tipperary.(Second Round) Winners of Waterford v Limerick v Clare; winners of Kerry and Tipperary v Cork
Connacht - (First Round) - London v Leitrim; New York v Sligo; Galway v Roscommon. (Second Round) - winners of London and Leitrim v Mayo; winners of New York and Sligo v winners of Galway and Roscommon.
2012 Senior Hurling Championship.
Munster - (First Round) - Limerick v Tipperary. (Second Round) winners of Limerick and Tipperary v Cork; Clare v Waterford.
Leinster - (First Round) Westmeath v Antrim; Laois v Carlow. (Second Round) - w inners of Westmeath and Antrim v Galway; Offaly v Wexford; winners of Laois and Carlow v Dublin; Kilkenny bye into semi-final.
