Ireland face New Zealand on Saturday hoping to reach their first-ever World Cup semi-final. Joe Schmidt’s men go into the game as underdogs after beating Scotland, Russia and Samoa in their group games. Japan’s win over Ireland saw the host nation top Pool A and sees Schmidt’s charges up against the tournament favourites.
Ahead of the quarter-final clash with the All Blacks, Sporting Limerick hosted a panel discussion in Regeneron during the week that saw Tom Savage, Niamh Briggs, Marcus Horan and Ian Dowling discuss the team’s chances.

Irish and Munster out-half Briggs began by saying
“Schmidt could actually be happier to be facing the country of his birth rather than the prospect of playing against South Africa. “Anytime you get to a quarter-final of a World Cup you have to perform no matter who you are playing. What’s left is the cream of the crop. The best teams in the world is what’s there.”
“They have to perform, irrelevant of whoever made it. It was always going to be that you were going to have to play well. I think Joe is going to have a couple of sneaky things up his sleeve. I think he will be happier with New Zealand.”

Former Munster winger and two time European Cup champion Dowling feels that Ireland need to focus on their own game plan and performance rather than getting bogged down on what New Zealand will bring to the table.
“I think we need to focus on ourselves a bit. When we beat them in the Aviva Stadium in November it was the perfect performance on the day. There was little that went wrong. The biggest concern I have going into the New Zealand game is that Johnny Sexton hasn’t played 60 minutes. “
“There is a bit of lethargy at the breakdown. There is playing within a game plan with Joe Schmidt, but there should also be a freedom and scope to play heads up rugby. At times, when I look at Conor Murray, it’s just get the ball out as quick as he can and there are times when he could snip and go. That could be an area that we could look at.”

Team selection is always a big talking point and Horan expects minimum changes. He would like to see at least one selection surprise, but doesn’t expect the Irish coach to go away from what he knows best.
“I think Tadgh Beirne will probably lose out. Peter O’Mahony has to be on the pitch. For the games you put your big men in there and I think they will rise to the occasion. Tadgh is someone that you can have on the bench and could be really effective towards the end of the game. That would be the only change to the pack that I see.”
“I think that Dave Kilcoyne is pushing really hard. Cian Healy has been incredible in the last number of years. To reinvent himself, we all thought he was finished as a player. Killer is doing a bit more and offers a little bit more.”
“Joe Schmidt isn’t the type of guy to do it. He sticks to what he knows best. He sticks to a recipe that he has. We have world class players in our team. They haven’t performed yet and I believe that they do have a big performance in them. If you cant get up for an All Blacks game, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Id expect a massive start from our team. Can we sustain it? We will have to wait and see.”

Tom Savage of Three Red Kings discussed Ireland’s chances, saying that a good start is a must if they are to bridge the gap to a semi-final, while Briggs concluded that Ireland’s hopes hinge on Johnny Sexton. Briggs described him as ‘Schmidt’s lieutenant on the pitch.”
To see clips from the panel discussion, head over to Sporting Limerick’s social media pages throughout the week.