Tommy Bowe has not played a single minute of rugby since the World Cup so finds it hard to shake bitter thoughts of another quarter final exit.
Amid the utter carnage created by Argentina at the Millennium Stadium, Bowe roared in agony.
Ireland were 14-0 down after 12 minutes and Nicolas Sanchez was lining up a penalty he would not miss. Bowe’s exit, after a bad knee ligament injury, was the last thing Ireland needed.
The Ulster winger would not have made the semi-final or final but the Pumas ensured that, at least, was not one regret. Ireland were well beaten and could have no complaints.
Japan 2019 seems a lifetime away and, right now, Bowe is more focused on getting back on the training pitch. Once he does that, new goals can be set.
“The World Cup gave me some of the highlights of my career,” he tells us.
“To play that match against Romania at Wembley, in front of 90,000 Irish people was special. The atmosphere, and the way we played, in that French match too.
“They were two stand-out games and ones I enjoyed playing most in my career but…”
With Ireland World Cup campaigns, there is always a ‘but’. Bowe continues:
“We went over there and trained as hard as we could. We tried to get ourselves into the best possible position through pre-season and all those games – Romania, France, Italy and Canada – were all to get us to the top of the group and to try get us through to a semi-final; something that had never been down by an Irish side before.
“We didn’t do it and, in a way, we did everything for nothing, which is very, very frustrating.”
“It was amazing, as players, to see the support and everything we had over there,” he adds. “The Irish supporters and players, even more so, are, even still, pretty devastated about the final result.
“The great games are the ones that stay in your mind but the bad ones really linger. That game is one that will last in my memory for a long time.”
Bowe was part of the Ireland team that were eliminated from the previous World Cup by a determined, canny Welsh sides but he insists this year’s exit, from a personal perspective, was different to 2011.
“[Back then] I played the full game but I lasted only 12 minutes against Argentina. I was there for whenever Argentina scored their quick-fire tries but it is a bit of a strange one for me.”
The 31-year-old, it must be recalled, was dropped for the tournament opener after he logged his worst performance in Irish green during the final warm-up loss to England.
“To miss out on Canada was disappointing,” he admits. “To get picked into the squad… the competition for a place in the back three was so intense all the way through pre-season.
“Personally, I always like to think I am right up there. So, of course, I was worried when the squad was being picked. Against England, I didn’t have my best game.
“Missing out on the Canada game was a bit of a kick in the teeth but was something that I couldn’t be surprised with. I knew I would have to fight my way back into the squad.
“That is one thing I was delighted with – that I could force myself back into the picture for Romania and the final games.”
Once he regains full fitness, we would not put it past Bowe to force is way back into the Irish picture.
The 2016 Six Nations may evade him but there is a summer tour to South Africa, two matches against the All Blacks and, medium term, another Lions tour to look forward too.
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