Despite the excitement leading into the Women's Rugby World Cup, for Ireland it became a tournament to forget.

Performances as well as results have left much to be desired with a 21-5 pool defeat to France compounded by another defeat today against Australia in the 5th to 8th playoff match.

A final match against Wales will determine whether Ireland will finish 7th and also play a part in automatic qualification for the next World Cup.

But what factors contributed to a disappointing World Cup for the Irish side? The Irish Times' Gavin Cummiskey has been covering the 2017 World Cup and explained some of the problems that have influenced the campaign, especially after a very promising showing three years ago.

"We've seen no development. There's been no progress," said Cummiskey.

"I think they got their pre-tournament preparations really badly wrong, the team was chopped and changed pretty much non-stop since 2016 Six Nations into November.

"At no point did they go back to the team that everyone knew was the best team that got familiar with each other."

He feels the three year plan since the last World Cup needs to be reviewed "because they got it wrong on so many levels off the pitch, on the pitch".

"On so many different levels, the management and the structures and the coaching and the planning has been deeply flawed," Cummiskey said, before continuing that some of the noises about the preparation were that it "wasn't a happy camp, that they have not had the direction that they craved".

He added: "It's been as bad a thing as I've had to cover ever."

Ireland's men's rugby coach Joe Schmidt had a good input for the 2014 World Cup by taking a few sessions but according to Cummiskey, he was not involved this time round.

You can listen to the full interview on the podcast player: