A few days of injury and disciplinary updates looms which could prove crucial to the outcome of the quarter-finals with Ireland having more cause for concern than most on both counts.
Following their penultimate pool match against Italy Joe Schmidt, their head coach, had praised the team’s conditioners for the fact that he still had his original 31 players to choose from for last weekend’s meeting with France.
However since Jared Payne was ruled out with injury ahead of that match things have unravelled a little with a string of problems for senior players.
While Schmidt’s biggest concern immediately after the match had been over Paul O’Connell, their captain, following that match, it was Peter O’Mahony, the lock’s Munster colleague, who was first to be ruled out of the rest of the competition as a result of a knee ligament injury.
The impression is that there is an element of collective self-delusion about the refusal to admit O’Connell’s international career is over, taking into account his extraordinary pain threshold and the state he was in as he tried to walk off before being stretchered from the field, but they are yet to do so, while Jonny Sexton is also undergoing a scan on a groin injury.
Sean O’Brien, Sunday’s man-of-the-match, has meanwhile had the expected call to a disciplinary hearing over his punch which floored Pascal Pape, the French lock, seconds into Sunday’s match, was missed by officials, but seems unlikely to go without punishment.
Their opponents Argentina also have reason to be fearful after centre Marcelo Bosch was also cited for an alleged dangerous tackle during their meeting with Namibia.
Elsewhere Joe Moody is settling into the All Black camp after being called in to replace Tony Woodcock when the 118 times capped prop’s career ended when he tore a hamstring in Friday’s win over Tonga, however quarter-final opponents France seem more confident about the prospects of another veteran.
Freddie Michalak has a heavily bandaged right hand following their defeat by Ireland, but the stand-off, whose career is in something of an Indian summer at this tournament, has not suffered a break and is expected to be fit by Saturday.
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