Ah feckit anyway.

It’s been a tough 24 hours for Irish sport after last night’s humiliation against Denmark, followed by losing out on the 2023 Rugby World Cup today.

In the end Ireland were almost as far off the pace as Martin O’Neill’s lads were last night, securing just eight votes from World Rugby’s council, bowing out in the first round.

France will now host the 2023 event after securing 24 votes to South Africa’s 15 in round two. Here’s how Ireland reacted to the result:

Leo Varadkar TD, Taoiseach:

“I am of course deeply disappointed by this result but I wish France the very best in their preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023. World Rugby had a choice of three excellent contenders.

As someone who has been involved in the bid from the beginning, I had hoped that Ireland would be selected. But we were beaten by another excellent candidate and I know that France will host a superb tournament in 2023. I have no regrets about bidding for the tournament and I want to thank everyone who was involved in it.

We should never forget that the technical report found that Ireland would be excellent hosts for Rugby World Cup 2023, and there may be other occasions for Ireland to show the world what we are capable of.”

Dick Spring, Chairman, Ireland 2023 Bid Oversight Board:

“We want to congratulate France on their nomination today, by World Rugby, as hosts for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. We wish them every success as they turn their attention to delivering an outstanding tournament.

Ireland’s bid is one of which all involved can be extremely proud. I would like to particularly thank the IRFU, the Irish Government, The Northern Ireland Executive, the members of the 2023 Oversight Board, those who took on ambassadorial roles for the bid, the many state bodies and, indeed, the people of Ireland, all of whom have given such incredible support to this bid.

It has been richly rewarding to witness, and be inspired by, the fulsome cooperation between the many individuals and groups, North and South, who have given so freely to our common quest.”

Spors Minister Shane Ross said:

“I know that the country would like to join me today in congratulating France on winning the bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

Though we were not successful this time, it is important to highlight the fact that our bid was acknowledged by the assessors to be world class and that we would be excellent hosts.

We are, of course, disappointed that we have not been afforded the opportunity this time around to prove what excellent hosts we would be, but I know we can take consolation in the fact that we did everything possible, including putting legislation through the Dail, to make sure that our bid was more than capable of succeeding. Sadly, the day is not ours, however I predict that there will be a lot of Irish people taking holidays in France in 2023.”

Philip Browne, Chief Executive, Irish Rugby Football Union said:

“I would like to thank all who participated in this process and particularly those who supported Ireland in the vote today.

For almost 6 years we have focussed passionately on bringing a Rugby World Cup to Ireland in 2023. In that time we developed a world class proposition which reflected positively on Ireland and saw us formally acknowledged as a destination well capable of hosting a superb Rugby World Cup.

It is not to be. Our race is now run. Today belongs to France. They have our warmest congratulations and very best wishes for a magnificent Rugby World Cup in 2023.”