Leamy faces anxious wait

Denis Leamy's prospects of facing France next Friday could be under threat if the Munster back row is cited for a first-half stamp on Gerogia's Ilia Maisuradze on Saturday night

The citing commissioner has until tomorrow night to make a complaint, and Leamy was full of remorse for his part in the incident.

"It was a silly thing to do - I shouldn't have done it," the Munster number eight said earlier today. "I got pulled back while I was in the defensive line. I lashed out without even thinking. I clipped the guy on the foot. It was stupid.

"The referee didn't make too much out of it, so I hope nothing will come of it."

Coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who is due to name his side for the Stade de France tomorrow afternoon, remains optimistic Leamy will escape punishment but conceded the player could have a case to answer.

"You never know because the disciplinary chiefs are being so strict," said O'Sullivan. "Denis stood on the guy's toe. It looked at the time like he might have been going for someone's head because there was a head very close to the incident.

"But he stood on the guy's toe and I don't think any action will be taken."

Leamy, meanwhile, has attempted to rally Ireland for their crunch clash with France by declaring their World Cup destiny remains in their own hands.

Victory over France would put the Irish within touching distance of the quarter-finals — but given their dreadful start to the tournament, they seem unlikely to trouble the hosts.

Only some desperate late defending from Leamy himself denied emerging nation Georgia a match-winning try in last night's 14-10 victory at the Stade-Chaban Delmas.

Two matches into the World Cup, Ireland's hopes of progressing from the 'group of death' appear bleaker than ever — but Leamy is refusing to raise the white flag just yet.

"We're disappointed we didn't get what we wanted out of the game. To be fair to Georgia, they made it very difficult for us," he said. "We defended very hard at times, and it could have gone very wrong for us when they nearly sneaked it at the end.

"But there's no point getting too disheartened about it or bashing our heads against a wall. We'll pick ourselves up. We're still in this tournament, whether people believe it or not. We could have lost that game but didn't, so that's a 'positive'.

"That was as tough a game physically as we'll ever play in the Six Nations, and I hope that brings us on a bit. But we need to start pushing ourselves, myself included. Things can click very fast in rugby.

"France are also under pressure, so it's definitely a challenge. It will be a typical cup match. We have a lot of experience in this team and we'll have to use every bit of that."