Eddie's Legacy

The Guardian's Team of the Tournament,(c) The Guardian M+MD.

Eddie's gone with speed and dignity. I guess he got a settlement - but perhaps that is what he is due. He was our most successful coach and the level of disappointment is in direct proportion to the level of ambition. I'm pretty sure that he contributed to that ambition. He had a great crop of players, which he coached in a truly professional manner. He was always too conservative in the end that was his undoing.

The sad legacy of the last 12 months is that a fair minded newspaper like The Guardian picked a team of the tournament without a single Irish player, and this is a talented group of Irish players - they simply failed to perform - again.