Six Nations champions Ireland face a pivotal week in their World Cup campaign as a win over Italy on Sunday can clinch their quarter-final place, said coach Joe Schmidt.
The real business for the Irish is in sight after they eased to a second successive bonus point win, a 44-10 victory over Romania in front of a record Rugby World Cup crowd of 89,267 at the home of English football Wembley on Sunday.
Schmidt, who has guided the Irish to back-to-back Six Nations titles after taking over a bedraggled and demoralised squad in 2013, said beating Italy and securing a place in the last eight would be target number one achieved.
However, the 50-year-old New Zealander knows that topping Pool D would see them avoid defending champions New Zealand — who look certain to top their pool — in the quarter-finals. The Irish would need to do that by beating France in their final first round clash.
“Next week is the pivotal week,” said Schmidt.
“It’s where we can qualify ourselves. The game against France just decides who we play in the quarter-final if we can win next week.
“It’s pressure for us and pressure for Italy. That’s why people come to a World Cup – they want to see how teams respond to the pressure cooker environment,” added Schmidt, who got the Ireland job on the back of a trophy-laden spell at Irish province Leinster.
Schmidt, whose sole injury worry is fullback Rob Kearney who limped off during the second-half against Romania, said the game with Italy would be a knockout match. Italy were well beaten by France before struggling over the line with a 23-18 win over Canada.
“We know we can qualify if we win next weekend,” said Schmidt.
“Italy, after a win and a loss, need to win next weekend to qualify.”
Schmidt was delighted to see several players perform well enough against Romania to cause him tough choices for the Italy clash.
“There were a number of players who performed really well and will create a big selection headache for Italy,” said Schmidt.
“I don’t think you’re ever totally satisfied. We know we’ve been imperfect but it’s a difficult thing to work through a couple of games where you’re heavily favoured.”
The standout performer for the Irish was wing Keith Earls, although his Munster team-mate Simon Zebo also caught the eye. Earls’ brace of tries brought him level with retired iconic centre Brian O’Driscoll as Ireland’s record World Cup try scorer on seven.
“It’s nice for him to be mentioned in the same sentence as Brian O’Driscoll,” Schmidt said.
“Because that’s the standard that any Irish player in the backline wants to reach.”