It's easy to look at results and say this is the case but it doesn't work very well. Ireland haven't reached a semi final but the only cups they've underachieved in are 99 and 07 if you ask me. We were legitimately awful in the late 80's and 90's, 2003 we did as expected, 2011 we probably overachieved beating the Aussies with a coach who had given us no hope of doing anything prior to the tournament, 15 we lost our five best players for the qf and lost to a fresh Argentina side a week after one of the most physical games of rugby ever. The narrative goes that we choke at World Cups but with the exception of 2007 and 2015 we have never brought a top 4 side into one, 1999 we were an amateur set up competing professionally, 2007 we choked, 2015 we hadn't the depth because our coach had less than two years to prepare for it. The only teams better positioned for the next RWC than Ireland are England and NZ and all those sides are winning while not looking impressive this Autumn while trying new combinations. Both England and Ireland looked better at times in 2016 than at any time in 2017, neither have a high age profile, both are a top 4 side. SA, Argentina, Wales etc... Have to catch up and overtake sides that are improving themselves, I wouldn't trade places despite any history at RWCs.
