Ireland's World Cup exit to Argentina in 1999 was the darkness before the dawn
There's a strong case to be made for Warren Gatland being the most important coach Ireland ever had because he forced the national team to get to grips with the professional era.
Life through a Lens. Through a nightmare in Lens, to be exact. On October 20, 1999, Ireland bowed out of the World Cup to an unfancied Argentina side in the French city on a 28-24 scoreline.
Few bothered marking the 25th anniversary last month. Well, maybe they did in Argentina.
But a decade to forget for Irish rugby ended with that dismal defeat to this week's opponents, Argentina.
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The end-game was memorable for the men in green trying the ploy of a 13-man lineout.
It was a tactic that had sometimes paid off for Warren Gatland during his days in charge of Connacht.
"I was always looking at the rules and seeing how you could use them to your best advantage and catch teams unaware,'' he explained.
"At that stage, you could have a 13-man scrum as well if you wanted to.
"There was no limit to the amount an attacking team could put in the lineout. As a defending team, you couldn’t have more than the opposition.
"We called it 'Psycho' on the basis that you had to be crazy to do it."
In two years using the tactic with Connacht, it enjoyed a lot of success.
But, in Lens, it meant he became the subject of ridicule. This was his master-plan?
Gatland took Lens hard. He says himself that he went home to Galway and stayed in bed for three days.
The legacy of that defeat was the IRFU shoehorning Eddie O'Sullivan into Gatland's backroom team.
Eventually, O'Sullivan would take his job, and most of the players were happy to see the back of the New Zealander.
But there's a strong case to be made for Gatland being the most important coach Ireland ever had because he forced the national team to get to grips with the professional era.
When he succeeded Brian Ashton in 1998, Gatland became Ireland's fifth coach in just six years.
It was a time of turmoil. A time when the advent of professionalism saw many players move abroad.
A time when Irish rugby was in danger of slipping under the waves.
But, more than any other individual, Gatland steadied the ship.
Ireland were at such a low ebb that they hadn't beaten Scotland in a decade.
Sure, Gatland had his bad days - notably a drubbing by England at Twickenham and the nightmare in Lens.
But look at how Gatland's Ireland responded to that 1999 World Cup.
In the following two Six Nations campaigns, they beat France home and away.
They also blew Wales away in Cardiff and humbled an England team who were on the brink of a Grand Slam.
Indeed, but for the foot and mouth outbreak, Ireland might well have won a Slam under Gatland.
His last game as Ireland coach was against the All Blacks in November, 2001. Ireland were 14 points ahead before a Jonah Lomu try on the hour turned the game. He went on to greater glory, especially with Wales. Ireland didn't do badly, either.
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