If he’s fit he’s fit.
“We don’t tend to take too many risks with injured players”.
“We have allowed him to build his way back in to the week, having had a fairly light start to the week”, Schmidt said of Sexton.
If anyone thinks we can roll up to Cardiff tomorrow and go through the motions and win, they are sorely mistaken. “We’re very fortunate it’s an easy switchover”. “I’d get a video of every game”, Schmidt recalled, “and go into the editing suite at school on Sunday evenings and show the players footage on Monday”.
Kiss insisted head coach Joe Schmidt would not be pressured into a decision on Sexton, for whom Ian Madigan came on against the French, putting down his own marker with an astute play-making display. His assured performance against Les Bleus put to bed any doubts over whether he can compete at the highest level.
The Pumas have beaten Ireland twice in their previous World cup meetings in 2014 at the Ireland Tour.
This match was shaping up as something of a hiding to nothing for Ireland at one stage – a match they were expected to win before a do-or-die semi-final against an exceptional Australian team.
“The energy that he brings to the team will help Ireland going into the game against Argentina”.
“We are going to continue to work together”, Dusautoir said.
“We got to stay task focus and on what the collective can do”.
“They have a great scrum”, Lobbe said in flawless English.
“They’re very similar, yet very different”.
Argentina and Ireland have not always seen eye to eye, other than when they are glaring at each other.
“It’s a big weapon for them. They have grown game on game in this tournament and we know the challenge that faces us from a talented South African side”. “They even got better when they came on”.
“We need to be able to make sure that doesn’t become a factor that makes us lose the game”.
“Obviously it’s important”, Pumas centre Juan Martin Hernandez said of the Irish absentees.
And while Ireland are without three key men in the pack, Argentina have also been forced down the depth chart in certain areas.
“But we felt Iain Henderson added a little more ballast to our tight five because the back five of the scrum had lost a lot of experience”.
“Football in Argentina is like that – we have the best players in Messi and Maradona – but four years ago Argentina didn’t play rugby like that”.
If you have not heard of Ian Henderson yet I don’t know what World Cup you have been watching.
Though not calling the shots for the backline this week, the Toulon star poses a huge threat to Schmidt’s side.
Ireland’s 24-9 victory proved costly with iconic captain and lock Paul O’Connell and flanker Peter O’Mahony ruled out of the rest of the tournament with injuries and man-of-the-match Sean O’Brien banned for a week for punching France lock Pascal Pape. Replacements: R Strauss, J McGrath (both Leinster), N White (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster), R Ruddock (Leinster), E Reddan, I Madigan, L Fitzgerald (all Leinster).
