Jamie Heaslip has spoken about Ireland’s ‘upset’ with the manner of their Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina last month.
Heaslip, speaking at the Web Summit in Dublin yesterday, said Ireland had left themselves with “too big a mountain to climb,” as they tried to reel in the South Americans.
“This is the first time I’ve actually talked about it, it was a rollercoaster.
“We were upset to be knocked out in the way that we did. We let ourselves down in that first 10 minutes,” he said, referring to the two tries Ireland leaked in the opening stages.
“It was too big a mountain to climb,” he added.
Heaslip was at the tech conference to discuss hi-tech start-ups and he said in that regard he was a “big believer in assembling the best possible team.”
He explained: “At the end of the day, I’ve been throwing a piece of leather around for 10 years. I don’t have a rashers (about a lot of things) and that’s ok. We literally have to run into people for 80 minutes every week.
“To want to put your body on the line for your team, your head has to be right.”
The Leinster player credited his former provincial coach Michael Cheika – now head coach at World Cup runners-up Australia – for introducing a hi-tech approach to Leinster:
“We were one of the first northern hemisphere teams to embrace that type of technology in 2008.
“It’s transformed the landscape. It completely changed how we trained. Like in business, you learn to tailor your training to actually being on the field – not in the office,” he said.
Introduced yesterday by Ian Prior of the Guardian as being “on top of his game”, Heaslip replied: “You’re very kind to say I’m at the top of my game. I’m sure a lot of people have written me off.”