Ireland are 9/4 to reach the Rugby World Cup final after Sunday’s impressive victory against France ensured they avoid New Zealand for as long as possible.
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Joe Schmidt has moved to replace his talismanic leader with Leinster’s Mike McCarthy, with Jamie Heaslip assuming the captaincy.
Paul O’Connell suffered a significant hamstring injury and will undergo surgery this week.
The Irish will also return to the Welsh capital to face the Pumas next Sunday but could be without O’Connell and Sexton, who both left the pitch through injury before halftime, as well as flanker Peter O’Mahony, who was injured after the break. “Johnny suffered a groin injury and is awaiting a scan but we’re hopeful”, the IRFU said on Twitter.
“We need to rehabilitate, analyse the game, all the while knowing that we’re still in it”, he said before listing a lack of clean ball in the second half, multiple errors on attack and too many penalties as areas to be addressed. Paul was in hospital overnight and he was obviously very sore.
“This will put a shudder through New Zealand but I’m sure the All Blacks would not wish for any other scenario in what I hope will be a another game of contrasts”. “The coaches did meet this morning and discuss a number of different options”.
O’Connell’s was not. He was going to retire from test rugby after the tournament.
Ireland’s attention has turned swiftly to the fate of flanker O’Brien, man-of-the-match against France, who appears before a disciplinary official on Tuesday for hitting lock Pascal Pape 23 seconds into the French game.
For a player who battled back from serious injury to add chapter after chapter to a glittering career, the premature ending of O’Connell’s global story marked a cruel finale for one of Ireland’s greatest players.
“Ireland were quite exceptional and disciplined in all the phases of play”, France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said.
Ireland full-back Rob Kearney warned that his unbeaten side must not fall into the same Rugby World Cup trap they did four years ago when they were unceremoniously dumped out by Wales in the quarter-finals.
“The history of the World Cup says anything can happen in the quarter-finals”.
“As for us, we will have to recover, analyse, knowing that we’re still in the World Cup, and get ready for a great game on Saturday night against the All Blacks”.
“The biggest attraction for us playing Argentina was the seven-day turnaround, not because we want to play them!”
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Kearney hailed O’Connell for “beaming ear to ear” at Ireland’s victory, despite fearing the worst on a personal front.
