RTE’s George Hamilton cracks self-deprecating joke about Ireland’s World Cup exit and how it’s been made even worse

THEY say it’s better to laugh than cry and sadly, Irish supporters are having to try and live by that maxim this week.

Still licking our wounds from being dumped out of the Rugby World Cup, an amusing example of this phrase came from RTE’s longtime voice of soccer in George Hamilton.

The Belfast native joked on Twitter: “An Irishman, Scotsman and a Welsh man walk into a bar.

“There’s normally an Englishman as well, but he’s still at the Rugby World Cup….”

Salt in the wound.

It’s not just fans who have been trying to lighten the mood either.

To his credit, Jack Conan provided some levity as the plane carrying the entire squad touched down on home soil.

As they disembarked before the rest of the passengers onboard, the giant number eight used Johnny Sexton as comic material after the captain had made his final flight on a rugby field.

Speaking into the plane’s intercom he urged everyone: “Everyone move up and congratulate him personally. Make it single-file.

“Come up and give him a pat on the back, a hug and a kiss – he’d love that.

“He’ll be over the moon. He will take photos, answer questions, anything you want – Johnny is just delighted to meet everyone.

“He has all the time today for everyone.

“Please take your time, come up and say hello to him. He is just so ecstatic about it all.”

The self-deprecating moment was enhanced by Bundee Aki then adding that since Sexton is now retired he has ‘all the time in the world’ for every single fan request.

It provided a much-needed laugh as the entire Irish rugby fanbase still comes to terms with our best-ever team ultimately falling just short.

CONAN THE COMEDIAN

Amid the many interviews given immediately after Saturday evening’s Paris heartbreaker, Conan provided perhaps the most vulnerable one.

The 31-year-old summed up the gutted feeling across all of the players as well as Andy Farrell’s coaching staff.

He said: “I’ve lost a lot of big games in my career but this is definitely the toughest one to take.

“It’s not lost on us how much sacrifice people have made to come and support us.

“Whether you were here or at home, it has meant the world to all of us and it’s something we spoke about a lot.

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