Harry Ringrose (right) celebrates with fellow Ireland center Bundy Aki (centre) and Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier Photo: AFP via Getty Images/Frank Fyfe
Ireland face growing injury problems ahead of what promises to be a defining week in their history, with James Ryan now potentially ruled out of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final. against New Zealand with a broken arm.
Irish medics are also assessing Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw's hamstring injuries, Mac Hansen's calf injury and James Lowe suffered a painful blow to the eye during Saturday's superb scoreline win over Scotland 36-14, which coach Andy Farrell said influenced the player's vision.
It speaks volumes about how far Ireland have come under Farrell's leadership that both they and their fans remain so confident. The scenes at the Stade de France at the end of Saturday's victory, where an estimated 50,000 of their supporters remained to chants of «Zombies», «Wild Rover» and «Dirty Old Town», were a stark illustration of how their momentum was gaining application for the World Championship.< /p>
It is known that Ireland have never won a knockout match at the World Cup. In nine tournaments, they reached the quarterfinals seven times and lost each time. But such is their form — they have won their last 17 games in all competitions, one more win and they will equal the world record — and such is the depth of their squad that they are not panicking about potentially losing players.
A broken arm potentially sidelined James Ryan in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock/Christophe Petit
Ryan was caught on camera at the end of Saturday's game telling Leinster teammates Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan that he thought he had broken his arm. Although it would have been a big loss, Farrell had already benched him against Scotland in favor of Ian Henderson, and the Ulster man was a key factor in Ireland's 100 per cent success.
This is not the same team that was so damaged by the loss of key players in 2015 that it capitulated to Argentina in the quarter-finals, or this is not the same team that failed to deliver a blow to the All Blacks in Yokohama four years ago. The world's best team has beaten New Zealand four times in their last six meetings, including twice last summer in a historic away series.
So while Ian Foster has promised his side will be seeking «revenge» on Saturday, there is no reason to doubt Ireland defense coach Simon Easterby, who said he is confident the team can cope with the loss of Earls or Henshaw, or both. Stuart McCloskey did a good job on Saturday and Leinster's Jimmy O'Brien was the next taxi driver.
“They will both be running today,” Easterby said of Earls and Henshaw. “It’s probably too early to talk about it. But of course, if they are ruled out, Jimmy was waiting in the wings and did an incredible job last November to come in after a couple of late call-ups. He came off the bench and did incredibly well. So yes, of course there will be no problem with Jimmy if he gets the opportunity, but hopefully on Tuesday or Wednesday we will have a full deck to choose from.»
«Passive defense is New Zealand's weakness» < p>So far, New Zealand's attacking power is well known. Former Ireland defender Rob Kearney believes a «passive» All Blacks defense will allow Ireland to score at the Stade de France.
«They'll be on New Zealand's minds after this, that's for sure,» Kearney said, referring to fans' use of Cranberry's «Zombie» as a victory anthem. «If there's one weakness in this New Zealand team, it's their defense.»
«They're very passive at D.» They give the opposition a lot of time and space on the ball, which will appeal to the Irish strikers. They are nowhere near as aggressive as South Africa or France.
“We saw Italy get past [them] three or four times [in pool play], they did it quite early, in the first five minutes , they just didn't have the skills to do anything about it.»
«In this New Zealand team's defense in the quarter-finals, Ireland will be able to exploit quite a lot of space on the edges.»
Ireland scored 26 tries and 190 points in their group of four. games, easily surpassing their previous best of 141 in 2003.
Easterby admitted the growing influence of former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who joined the New Zealand team after the last World Cup, was a potential pitfall. Nobody knows this Irish team and its players better. But ultimately there is a feeling in the Irish camp that this time fate is in their own hands.
“We will focus on ourselves and do the best we can. They can't match New Zealand in the quarter-finals,” Easterby added.
“We were there four years ago and we were beaten badly that day. But we've been through a lot over the past four years. Now we have a reservoir of understanding that we can draw on when it comes to these big games.”
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