Donal Spring/Rugby Analyst: The Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has either been playing mind games with Australia or else has had a change of heart regarding his approach to today's final Pool A game against the home side.
His earlier statements to the press suggested he would rest key players and concentrate efforts on the quarter-final against France (as second-placed finishers). He went further and stated this decision had been reached after discussing the matter with the squad.
O'Sullivan hasn't resorted to the sense of consensus previously, so this is an interesting approach. If he was genuine about using this option, I suspect he got quick feedback, which made it clear to him it was not popular to concede the game, either at home or among supporters who had travelled to Australia at great expense.
Frankly I'd have been very disappointed and annoyed if we had chosen anything but the strongest team against Australia. If he was playing mind games with Australian coach Eddie Jones, that's fair enough, provided the whole squad knew that was the case.
The Australians have been known to play mind games in the past themselves: Bob Dwyer's great con job against England in the 1991 World Cup final in Twickenham comes to mind. He said beforehand it was going to be a great occasion of running rugby. England duly obliged. Australia played it tight and came away with the cup.
The real World Cup challenge for Ireland starts now. To date we have beaten Romania, Namibia and Argentina, which should not be regarded as a great achievement for a side ranked third or fourth in the world.
These games should have been our warm-up for today's match but the fear created by losing to Argentina four years ago resulted in a huge expenditure of mental energy and our tactics last week, when we deliberately engaged in the physical battle in preference to relying oour skill and imagination, have taken a high physical toll.
In the aftermath of the game, when everyone was exhausted, there may have been a temptation to take the easy option and concentrate on the quarter-final. After a rest I suspect everyone had recovered sufficiently to realise that would be the wrong thing to do. It would have been an insult to the Irish jersey and national pride, which has sustained Ireland in the past in times when the finer skills may have been lacking.
Now, thankfully, we can look forward to a real contest and despite the world rankings we are the underdogs. Australia have shown much better form and they're at home. Having tried various back-line combinations over the past few seasons, their coach has settled on this selection, which puts his seven best individuals in the side, even if he has two full backs in (Mat) Rogers and (Mathew) Burke and two outhalves in (Stephen) Larkham and (Elton) Flatley.
It is a very skilful back line with two of the best finishers in the world in (Wendell) Sailor and (Joe) Roff. I'm looking forward to the contest between Denis Hickie and Sailor. When Ireland beat Australia last autumn, Sailor was still learning his trade. His attack is tremendous but his defence is still somewhat lacking.
Larkham is the key man for Australia and (George) Gregan to a lesser extent. They play the game in the opposition's faces and provide the momentum to keep their side going forward. Watch closely the difference in style, in that we continue to play from a deeper back-line position. This for me is the biggest difference in approach between the top teams and those chasing (including ourselves).
The Australian pack is not the strongest they have ever put on a pitch, although they have improved lately. Their number eight, (David) Lyons, who has been asked to fill a huge gap left by Kefu, looks a great player and must be stopped early.
We should be comfortable with our own set-pieces and the return of Keith Gleeson will help at breakdowns. We won't win if we try to maul them off the park. The Australians are too good at absorbing pressure. We must attack the way Samoa attacked England and try to surprise them by varying our lineouts, kicking and general game plan. The Irish backs are due a good game.
Ronan O'Gara gets his big chance and will be keen to take it. For him to be effective, however, Peter Stringer will need to be protected more than he was in the last meeting between these sides.
Simon Easterby is another player getting an opportunity to reclaim a regular place. He's a very good player and a big performance from him could give the coach some hard decisions for the quarter-final.
It is a great position for Ireland to be in with nothing to lose but a huge reward if the team can pull off a surprise. Remember what happened 25 years ago this weekend? Hint - Thomond Park and the All Blacks. Everything is possible.
