Ireland have been badly hit by injuries and a one-game ban handed to Sean O’Brien at the Rugby World Cup but with eight nations left, how badly off are Joe Schmidt’s men compared to the competition?
We check on the health and suspension issues of the teams taking part in each of this weekend’s upcoming quarter-final fixtures.
South Africa v Wales - 4pm Saturday, Twickenham
South Africa: Team captain Jean De Villiers is the most high-profile injury casualty so far, exiting the tournament with a broken jaw suffered against Samoa. South Africa still have plenty of strength in the centres with Damian De Allende emerging as one of the stars of the tournament at 12 while Jesse Kriel is highly rated by the Bokke support. Sadly, the experienced utility back Frans Steyn was released from the squad before the tournament following the death of his brother.
The rest of the backline is in good health with Fourie Du Preez and Handre Pollard at half-back and the tried and trusted Bryan Habana, Willie Le Roux, JP Pietersen back three. Up front, Victor Matfield misses out on both starting team and bench with Lood De Jaeger and Eben Etezebeth favoured. The front row corps is strong and the back-row trio of Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen is Schalk Burger is also notably formidable.
Even with a few oldies, overall this is a a notably young team, with an average age of 27 years and 210 days.
Verdict: How did they lose to Japan again? An excellent first XV and good bench despite the loss of De Villiers and Matfield’s demotion. Surprisingly strong.
Wales: It is a different story for Wales, who have lost a swathe of key players in the backline with injuries hitting them particularly hard at outside-centre, wing and full-back. Jon Davies, Liam Williams, Scott Williams, Cory Allen, Leigh Halfpenny and Hallan Amos are just a few of the missing. At scrum-half, Rhys Webb is out for 6-8 months after a serious foot injury picked up during Wales' final warm-up match.
The first XV looks pretty good though players like Alex Cuthbert might well have found their place under threat if others were fit. Dan Biggar, Jamie Roberts and George North are all in flying form but Gareth Anscombe, Cuthbert and Tyler Morgan are the players Welsh fans will watch nervously every time the ball comes their way. The temptation to call up Gavin Henson has been resisted.
In the pack, the right names are there in the starting team but it is patched up and injury prone players that are the issue. At tighthead, Samson Lee has been troubled by dead legs and calf problems. Back-up Tomas Francis has struggled whenever he has been called on. Both starter Gethin Jenkins and sub Paul James have struggled to last games at loosehead.
But marquee men Alun-Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate Sam Warburton and Taulupe Faletau are in situ and in red-hot form, along with those three star backs.
Verdict: Wales need survival in the set-piece and huge performances from A-W Jones, Lydiate, Warburton and Faletau in the pack and Biggar, Robert and North in the backs. The magnificent seven? It might just work.
New Zealand v France – 8pm Saturday, Millennium Stadium
New Zealand: New Zealand have named the oldest and most experienced team in RWC knockout history at 29 years and 254 days and 988 caps (it's the second oldest RWC team ever with the All Blacks team that played Argentina in the opening match just ahead on both counts).
The scrum has been an issue and New Zealand suffered a major loss when experienced loosehead prop Tony Woodcock limped off against Tonga with a career-ending hamstring injury. In fact, the general form of the props has been a cause for concern in New Zealand with low-impact contributions around the field and the scrum both attracting comment. New Zealand have flown Joe Moody over from New Zealand and he goes straight in on the bench this weekend with Wyatt Crockett getting the start. It’s an obvious point of focus for France.
But the main concerns in New Zealand surround the pace of play and the form of key players, among them veteran duo Dan Carter and Richie McCaw. Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read are also considered to have underperformed in recent matches.
Verdict: Are these experienced heads up to speed? No injury problems but if they are to be derailed it will be coach Steve Hansen’s decision to side with experience that will be the focus of the post-mortem.
France: French worries are firmly on the form of their team and the poor relationship between the players and coach Phillipe Saint-Andre, who has reportedly been as good as sacked after the loss to Ireland.
Yoann Huget, fortunate to have been playing after avoiding a serious stamp in the Top 14, is the biggest absentee. He suffered a cruciate ligament injury in France’s 32-10 win over Italy.
Second row Pascal Papé has recovered from being, in his own words, physically 'beaten' by Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien.
The team has been re-jigged with Mathieu Bastareaud dropped and Morgan Parra paired with Freddy Michalak at half-back, while Bernard La Roux has been brought in to the back row. Alexandre Dumoulin is reunited with Wesley Fofana in the centre.
Rather than injury, many of the missing names in French rugby are absent because they were left out of the 31-man squad selection. Maxime Medard is not on the radar for Saint-Andre, who called up 26-year-old Remy Grosso when Huget was ruled out. Francois Trinh-Duc is another who has been squeezed out since PSA took over while Camille Lopez, Maxime Machenaud and Teddy Thomas were cut when the original squad was picked.
Verdict: France are in disarray, playing badly and with a ruptured relationship between the coach and the team. They only have their tradition of producing with backs against the wall to give them hope. New Zealand will be bricking it.
Ireland v Argentina – 1pm Sunday, Millennium Stadium
Ireland: Ireland have suffered a string of losses. Before the tournament, Tommy O’Donnell’s chance of appearing at the tournament was ended by a serious leg injury while Rhys Ruddock and Andrew Trimble had their shot at making the squad hampered by badly timed injuries.
Those losses pale in comparison to the triple hit that will see Ireland play Argentina without Paul O’Connell (hamstring tear), Peter O’Mahony (knee ligaments) and Sean O’Brien (suspended) – a serious rejig to the back five of the pack is needed with numbers 5, 6 and 7 all gone. Having initially missed out due to a broken arm, Ruddock has now been called up, along with Mike McCarthy.
Behind the scrum, outside-centre Jared Payne is the biggest loss while Jonathan Sexton and Keith Earls both suffered physically against the French with Sexton forced off in the first half with a groin injury.
Aside from the loss of three big names, Ireland must also cope with the fact that their most recent match was extraordinarily physically punishing.
Verdict: Are Ireland the worst hit team? Wales may have lost more players, but Ireland are without more of their best men. Believe in Joe…..
Argentina: The Puma version of Sean O’Brien is centre Marcelo Bosch, who was lucky to only get a one-match ban for a tip tackle against Namibia. Unlike O’Brien, he would not have been certain to start this match but he is still a quality carrier and defender and goes down as a loss.
Argentina lost lock Mariano Galarza after he was cited and banned for making contact with the eye of an opponent against the All Blacks.
Meanwhile, Juan Figallo has been called up to replace tighthead Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, whose tournament is over due to a leg muscle tear.
Verdict: Fresh, with almost all of their key players in place. Dangerous.
Australia v Scotland – 4pm Sunday, Twickenham
Australia: The Wallabies have been fortunate so far, though the extremely tough Pool A campaign take a physical toll. Israel Folau’s ankle injury and David Pocock’s calf problem are the most high-profile issues though both came through strongly in the key matches with Pocock in particular exerting a huge influence.
Pocock was considered lucky to avoid a citing for a knee to the body of Wales forward Scott Baldwin (who was holding him back at the time) while Michael Hooper is available again after serving a one-match ban for a flying headbutt on Mike Brown.
Centre Matt Giteau is suffering with sore ribs but is likely to start against the Scots.
Remarkably, winger Rob Horne is back in the frame having staged an unlikely recovery from a dislocated shoulder though Drew Mitchell is expected to keep his place against the Scots.
Verdict: ‘The Lucky Country’? That’s how it’s playing out so far for Michael Cheika’s men though depth is suspect in some positions and the fitness of Folau and Pocock remains key.
Scotland: An innocuous looking bit of play in a ruck against Samoa looks to have cost Scotland the services of both Jonny Gray and Ross Ford. They were handed a three-match ban after they combined to lift Jack Lam into a dangerous position and then drop him at a ruck.
The Scots are mounting a ‘vigorous appeal’ but are virtually certain to be without the duo for this match.
They had already lost Grant Gilchrist to injury against the USA, though out-half Finn Russell has recovered from a nasty looking ankle twist in the same match. John Hardie and Sean Maitland also shook off injuries during the pool phase.
Alex Dunbar’s knee injury kept him out of the reckoning for the squad.
Verdict: ‘The Unlucky Country (though not quite as unlucky as Ireland or Wales)’? Does anyone have Jim Hamilton’s number?
