No buts about it . . . you can shove your buts

There seems to be a 'but' about Ireland. They were fabulous against France, but it was against a side apparently in the throes of yet another mutiny. They are through to today's quarter-final as winners of that pool, but at a cost: Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton and Peter O'Mahony all out through injury; Seán O'Brien through suspension. They are the back-to-back champions of the Six Nations, where they are masters of maintaining a consistently high level of performance, but this is the World Cup, where they are not.