'To be knocked out of the World Cup, come off after 12 minutes and to watch the game from the medical room... it was a right kick in the balls'

Upstairs, the cacophony is deafening but down below Tommy Bowe lies in silence and fights back the pain as he watches the World Cup come crashing down around him. His knee is in agony, while the television screens beam out the events on the surface where his Ireland team-mates are battling their way out of the hole they've dug for themselves, only for it all to cave back in again.