PARIS (AP) — Ireland's famous — or infamous — reputation for never passing the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals could become irrelevant on Saturday when there's a chance the No. 1-ranked team may not even get there.
Barring the way is bitter Six Nations rival Scotland, which must win and deny the Irish a bonus point at Stade de France in a cauldron of shamrock and thistle supporters.
“Look, it’s our be-all and end-all. I don’t say that lightly," Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony says. "People have talked about not being able to get past certain hurdles in this tournament and this is the biggest hurdle of our tournament so far.”
Scotland has lost eight consecutive tests to the Irish, not winning once under coach Gregor Townsend, whose reign began in 2017, three months after their last win over Ireland. But since the Scots blew away Romania 84-0 last weekend, they have talked up their chances. “Why not?” Townsend prompts.
Ireland has a forward pack of bigger names and reputations. They will be out to deny the Scots enough front-foot ball to get their running game going. Both backlines run through their flyhalves — Ireland's retiring Jonathan Sexton, still Europe's best 10, and Scotland maverick Finn Russell.
“We consider Scotland as an incredible threat to our campaign and our journey,” said O’Mahony, who will become Ireland's 10th centurion at kickoff.
IRELAND vs. SCOTLAND (Ireland leads 69-5-67 overall, 1-1 at RWC).
It’s their 142nd meeting but only their third at a Rugby World Cup. Ireland routed Scotland 27-3 four years ago in Japan, and the Scots triumphed 24-15 at Murrayfield in 1991.
Curiously, there has never been a red card, even though the needle between them is evident even to outsiders.
South Africa lock Jean Kleyn, who played for Ireland at the 2019 Rugby World Cup but not against Scotland, has seen the provocation for himself while playing for Irish club Munster against Glasgow.
“There’s always been this underlying — I wouldn’t call it hatred — but there’s a little bit of knife in the back,” Kleyn says. “Everything’s a little bit closer to the bone and everything’s a little bit more real. I think it’s going to be a serious match.”
If Scotland win and both teams get a bonus point, it will be a three-way tie with South Africa on 15 points and then points difference will determine top spot in Pool B.
“We’re not going to die wondering, we’ve got to fire every bullet in our gun,” Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie says.
WALES vs. GEORGIA (Wales leads 3-1 overall, 1-0 at RWC)
Wales has bad memories of the last time they met, last November when Georgia edged a tight contest with a late long-range penalty to emerge victorious 13-12 in Cardiff.
That gave the Lelos only their second win against a tier one nation and effectively brought back Warren Gatland to replace the struggling Wayne Pivac as coach.
This a much different Wales side and Gatland's troops will be confident of topping Pool C with a fourth straight win, even though they only need one point in Nantes.
“We are pleased to be in the position we are in at the moment, progress that has been made as a group," Gatland said. "We’re excited about where we are and we are looking forward to going deep into this tournament.”
Georgia was unlucky in its opening 35-15 loss to Australia and will be eager not to leave the Atlantic coast without a win in their sails. But when they met at the Rugby World Cup four years ago in Japan, Wales had a reasonably comfortable night — humidity aside — and won 43-14.
ENGLAND vs. SAMOA (England leads 8-0 overall, 3-0 at RWC)
Few people have enjoyed the tournament as much as Steve Borthwick, whose written-off side has marched into the quarterfinals on the back of three straight wins.
It hasn't been pretty, but the 2003 champions can sign off the pool stage in style by beating Samoa in Lille.
Perhaps as a sign of recognition for services rendered, he picked George Ford and Owen Farrell together, pairing the two kicking machines and childhood pals at 10 and 12.
“I’m excited to see that partnership grow,” Borthwick says. “This is the first time they’ve started for England for a little while.” It's been 2 1/2 years.
Ford kicked 41 points from the first two matches, including all 27 in a bloody-minded win against Argentina that set the tone for England's silence-the-doubters campaign.
Farrell will do the goalkicking on Saturday. He needs two points to become England’s all-time leading scorer, and end 2003 champ Jonny Wilkinson’s reign.
The Samoans dominated Chile 43-10 and have only a long-shot mathematical chance of reaching the last eight.
Another omen for England? It beat Samoa at the 2007 tournament and reached the final after being written off.
A coincidental statistic shows Samoa scoring 22 points in all three of its Rugby World Cup defeats to England, and England scoring 44 in two of them. Only England's 35-22 win in 2003 ruins the symmetry.
___
AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
