"It's the hope that kills you..."

If, before the world cup, you had offered me 4th place with a narrow(ish) defeat against Australia, I would have laughed at you, rubbed my hands with glee and accepted your offer.

Wales played today exactly like they were playing before the world cup. Which is actually a very depressing thought because we had a couple of magnificent highs a few weeks ago, but it looks like the old ways are back. That feels like a big crash back to earth to me.

How were Wales looking pre-World Cup? Fit, yes. Good defence - except the odd lapse (like see in the first Aussie try). But also workmanlike, uninventive: one pass out from a breakdown and bosh, take contact. With no back-up plan.

That describes the performance today - even with that lovely flourish at the end. Oh well, back to reality. Wales are flawed, and maybe we can find that magic dust again in the 6 Nations (with Rhys Priestland back at 10), but I'm not going to be expecting a Grand Slam (like I was a week ago).

I will hopefully reflect on the tournament as a success, and our last ditch try will be a nice memory (and Shane scoring a dodgy try in his final competitive game - what a legend). I dearly wanted a Tri-Nations scalp today, but we never looked like it. Hey, at least we gave the Irish a good skinning two weeks ago.