Ex-St Helens star explains why he was “annoyed” and “embarrassed” by Ireland’s defeat to Lebanon

Ireland’s hopes of making the quarter-finals of the World Cup are all but over after their 32-14 defeat to Lebanon yesterday.

For former St Helens star Kyle Amor who starred for Ireland at the last World Cup, it was a frustrating watch and he diagnosed what he felt led to the defeat on BBC yesterday: “11 penalties, 5 six agains, 17 errors and a set completion at 58%, at this level, it’s just not good enough.

“Mitchell Moses in his interview spoke about they prepared for a dog fight off the back of comments made by the coaching staff in the build-up.

“I just feel like they were masters of their own downfall and it started right at the top for me.”

It ultimately left the former Super League Champion “annoyed” and “embarrassed” that he had backed the Irish to get the job done due to their star-studded squad including the likes of Leeds Rhinos’ Richie Myler and three-time NRL winner Luke Keary.

Amor said: “I’m so annoyed, because you look down that roster of players, there’s so much Super League experience and NRL experience. That team deserves and should be doing better than what they’ve done today.

“I’m disappointed, a little bit emotional about it right now. I expected so much more. I went into the Ireland camp and done an interview with the Kings and the Seniors and the feeling I got from there, I was talking Ireland up and I feel almost embarrassed that I did that now.

“End of the day, let’s credit Lebanon and their spine which was incredible.”

Barring a minor miracle against New Zealand next week or indeed a miracle win for Jamaica over Lebanon, Ireland’s World Cup campaign will come to an end after next week’s fixtures.