Analysis: The match officials will be put under huge pressure by the noisy Irish and French fans in next Sunday's quarter-finals, writes Patrick McKendry.
It was reported in the aftermath of Ireland’s 36-14 victory over Scotland, a win more dominant than the scoreboard suggests, that there were 35,000 Irish fans in attendance at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France.
Those fans were understandably euphoric afterwards as their side qualified for a quarter-final against the All Blacks at the same Paris venue next Sunday NZT.
They sang Zombie by the Cranberries and a couple of old classics as the men in green revelled in the adulation, but it was the noise and support they provided and the pressure they put on the match officials that was significant and it’s another barrier the All Blacks will have to overcome to achieve a win even many Kiwis will believe is beyond them.
Make no mistake, the crowd will be a factor, along with Ireland’s defence which repelled wave after wave of Scottish attacks before it relented in the final quarter as Andy Farrell opted to withdraw his key leaders, such as first-five Johnny Sexton, for the knockout match ahead.
It will be even more of a factor in the other confirmed quarter-final between France and South Africa next Sunday and in this case it’s probably not hyperbole to suggest the match officials will be operating under near intolerable pressure going by what we saw in France’s pool win over Italy yesterday.
Every marginal tackle by an Italian was booed to the heavens by the crowd in France’s 60-7 victory in Lyon, a wall of noise made worse by the occasional histrionics by the French players as they sought the match officials’ sympathy. The world champion Boks will be up against it, as will all France's opponents for as long as they're in the tournament.
The selection of the officials for the first weekend of knockout matches will be highly anticipated because Englishman Karl Dickson appeared to struggle under the spotlight in the France v Italy match.
After an Italy try was ruled out due to an allegedly illegal ruck cleanout on the French tryline reported by the television match official, Dickson, attempting to make a decision amidst the howls of the crowd, first elected to yellow card the offending Italy player (who had hit his opponent at chest — in other words legal — height), only to be talked out of it.
The Italy player stayed on the field but what appeared to be a legitimate try was chalked off and France cleared to touch.
Englishman Wayne Barnes and New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe appear to be the referees in the best form at this tournament.
O’Keeffe will automatically be disqualified from officiating an All Blacks match but Barnes is in the frame, and, 16 years after he was booed off the pitch by New Zealand fans after their team’s quarter-final defeat to France in Cardiff, many will hope that Barnes is given the job on Sunday. He is a calm official with a good feel for the game and has a natural rapport with the players.
Otherwise, should a settled and supremely confident Ireland play with similar intensity against the All Blacks, Ian Foster’s men will have a difficult time of it.
One should be reluctant to say they are battle hardened given what is happening around the world at the moment, but their combinations are proven and they lack any obvious weaknesses.
That isn’t quite the case with Foster’s men. Injuries to Sam Cane, Jordie Barrett and Brodie Retallick meant they couldn’t put their strongest line-up out against France in their opening defeat, but they came closer to it for the big win over Italy before Foster decided to shake things up considerably again and make nine changes for Uruguay.
The All Blacks forwards will have to carry the ball extremely well around the fringes if they are to make any headway — they did it against the Springboks at Mt Smart in July — and Aaron Smith, Richie Mo’unga, Jordie Barrett and Beauden Barrett will have to kick intelligently to create space.
Expect the All Blacks to attack the short side in an attempt to stymie Ireland’s rush defence.
And while they have game-breakers in wings Mark Telea and Will Jordan, the All Blacks must put the ball in their hands in space.
Scotland’s little and large wings Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe went into the Ireland match with big reputations as strike weapons but, including fullback Blair Kinghorn, the Scottish back three beat only five defenders in total and made only one clean break between them.
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