They have also won three of their last four meetings against France

They have also won three of their last four meetings against France.Keith Wood, the captain who is playing in his first quarter-final, said: “We have to have the view we can win. If for one minute some of the players don’t think we are going to do it, it becomes quite a struggle. Torn betting slips and hearts throughout Victoria.
It would all, of course, be a distant memory if Ireland managed to overcome France in the quarter-finals It is possible The Irish have the firepower, the will and the belief. Scotland have the structure, but not the numbers in playing terms; Wales are attempting a new competitive regional structure.Quite simply, such changes need to be made or you slip down the world rankings and lose credibility and thereby international fixtures and the concomitant cash flow.In international rugby there is still de facto a Premier League comprising the three heavyweights from Down Under, plus France and England. A one-point defeat by Australia, when the world champions were on the ropes, followed by the startling failure of the favourite, Mamool, in the Melbourne Cup. Another player back to full fitness is Rob Howley, who leaves the bench and replaces scrum-half Peter Richards to lead the team up at struggling Leicester, who have Dan Lyle back from World Cup duty with the US Eagles.Tani Fuga returns at hooker for Harlequins, who travel to Northampton where they will face an unchanged pack from the one that helped overcome Gloucester.

Mark Tucker is out with a broken jaw, suffered in last week’s game.. It has not been a good week for the Irish in Melbourne. In his 40-odd games with Sale from 1995 to 1999 Rees scored 11 tries.He will run up against Charlie Hodgson, who last started a match for the Sharks back in February. The Welsh responded like-for-like to these tactics, and in the shoot-out that developed last weekend, the chinks in the New Zealand armour became cracks through which the Welsh attackers poured to score some well-worked tries.It was a wonderful effort, until, in the words of their coach, Steve Hansen, they eventually “ran out of petrol”; only then did the All Blacks get to grips with the game. They will be looking to tighten their play against the Springboks.

This is legitimate, but can be penalised, since referees are suspicious of their superiority and penalties can thus ensue.Key to their success is the leadership of Fabien Galthi?nd his half-back partner, the inexperienced Fr?ric Michalak, on whose young shoulders lies the important responsibility of goal kicking However, as yet France have not been truly challenged. If they were very fast against Wales, then they were also very loose and leaked opportunities to their eager opponents.Wales probably surprised themselves. If short of world-class players and power in the forwards, they, nevertheless, put together a wonderful team effort. The Springboks, in demolishing Samoa, will be uplifted, and will believe they have a realistic chance of victory. If the youngster Derick Hougaard can again inject the much-needed fluency at stand-off, then, despite the loss in the back row of the excellent Joe Van Niekerk, they could well challenge New Zealand.The All Blacks have eight good forwards, but do not play Test rugby as a cohesive pack Instead, they rely on out-and-out attack. So were the Irish to be able to repeat their effort of last weekend and impose their well-oiled game-plan based on kicking for field position, the outcome could well be close.The tightest tie pits New Zealand against South Africa.