Ireland look to finally bury Rugby World Cup underachievers tag

PARIS – Ireland will seek to at last break through their Rugby World Cup glass ceiling by beating New Zealand to reach the semi-finals for the first time on Saturday.

Hammered by the All Blacks in 2019 at the same stage, the recent history between the two sides suggests the Irish have the slight upper hand against an ageing team.

Victory on Saturday would be Ireland coach Andy Farrell’s fourth in five meetings with New Zealand and also help the world No. 1 team take a big step towards emulating England in completing the Six Nations Grand Slam and World Cup double in 2003.

The All Blacks are hard to gauge, scoring points for fun against three poor sides Namibia, Italy and Uruguay, although they took 20 minutes to breach the latter’s defence. However, if the Irish are on the same level as the South Africans and the French, then the Kiwis can expect little in terms of points.

Indeed, a record 35-7 loss to the Springboks in their final warmup match and a 27-13 defeat by France in the pool game may be a fairer reflection of where the All Blacks stand, but do not suggest that to Ireland’s veteran scrum-half Conor Murray.

“The threat and the aura around the All Blacks are definitely still there. That’s the challenge,” he said.

Those outside the Irish camp might be fixated over whether Farrell’s side can end the quarter-final jinx, but it is unlikely that he has allowed his players’ focus to be affected by it.

Indeed the degree of freedom and confidence they have displayed so far is on another plane to any of their previous campaigns at the quadrennial showpiece.

A large part of this can be credited to performance coach Gary Keegan, whom Farrell brought in to deal with the players’ mindsets. Keegan has already reset their thinking about being ranked world No. 1, making them comfortable with the label and that they earned it. That has made Englishman Farrell’s task easier.

“What we’ve learnt to do is throw ourselves into big challenges and try to meet them head on and embrace that,” said the 48-year-old.

Also looking to grab their last chance to prove themselves on the biggest stage are Richie Mo’unga and his New Zealand teammates.

This generation of All Blacks have not dominated in the way their predecessors did, and they go into the clash at the Stade de France in the unusual position of being slight underdogs.

“The numbers don’t lie. They’re the best team in the world. It’s obviously not what I want to be saying in front of you today but those are the facts,” said Mo’unga, 29.

“But the beauty is we have the opportunity to play them. We don’t have to be the best team in the world now. We’ve got to be the best on the day and that’s Saturday.”

Mo’unga said it will be a privilege to pit his wits against Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton and thought New Zealand would have to be at the top of their game in attack to breach an imposing Irish defence.

He will, though, have some assistance in the playmaking role with both Jordie Barrett and his brother Beauden also capable of leading the backline.

“It really helps me because they think like a fly-half and I think that’s really crucial to the comms that I need, and sometimes to the way the game needs to be driven. Sometimes you wish you were a Barrett yourself, the family is just that talented,” he said.

Mo’unga will not be getting any help from Mark Telea from the start, as the in-form winger has been dropped by coach Ian Foster from the starting line-up after breaking team protocol.

The 26-year-old scored three tries – one against Italy and two against France – but that was not enough to save his spot.

“He breached protocol, nothing major but it kept him out of selection,” said Foster, who also added that nothing that happened in the past weighed on his side going into the match.

“You learn at the time it becomes a part of who you are. We have prepared well with this match in mind. We know the size of the challenge. Ireland deserve the credit they get, but rugby is about who is best on the day.

“Ireland have got the upper hand a few times over us, so naturally you respect them. But we start the match at 0-0 and it should be a great game.” AFP, REUTERS