It was even more of an assault on the essence of sport by Henry because the Irish, a team of lesser abilities but bigger hearts, had played so well from Shay Given in goal to Dunne and Sean St Ledger in defence, to the tireless Keith Andrews and Damian Duff, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and others. They were unfairly denied a trip to South Africa, concluded the Irish fans bemoaning their fate. The Irish are one of the more principled teams in a sport lacking scruples, making Henry’s offence even more shameful. The horrible lesson from Paris was that cheats prosper.