O'Driscoll focusing on the positives

Brian O'Driscoll insists it would be a "travesty" if Ireland fail to stun Argentina and reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

Ireland must beat the Pumas by at least seven points while scoring a minimum of four tries at the Parc des Princes on Sunday if they are to progress.

"We're adopting the attitude that we know that we're capable of doing it.  We're capable of a huge performance," he said.

"It's the last game of the pool stages and we know that if we don't produce something enormous then this will be our last game in this World Cup.

"It's very much last-chance saloon. We're just hopeful that we can produce the form that everyone knows this team is capable of.

"It would be a travesty to work as hard as we have done for the past three months in pre-season, and four years since the last World Cup, and not put in a performance."

Argentina have impressed during the World Cup and their tryline has to yet to be breached.

But O'Driscoll believes the return of fullback Geordan Murphy and Denis Hickie to the starting line-up has improved their chances of securing the try-scoring bonus point.

"The Argentinians have based their game around their defence and they'll be very difficult to break down," said the Leinster centre.

"But we've managed to score tries against great defences before, the likes of France, Australia and New Zealand.

"It's going to take a monumental performance but we have to think about just winning game and if there's four tries then fantastic.

"With the two guys coming in, without being disrespectful to the lads they're replaced, we've probably got more line-breakers - players that can create something out of nothing.

"We've got raw speed in Denis and an excellent rugby brain and brilliant reader of the game in Geordie.  So, we've got as many game-breakers on the pitch as we could possibly have."

In recent times Munster have entered crucial Heineken Cup Pool games against Gloucester and Sale needing a bonus-point victory to progress and O'Driscoll admits that experience may prove useful on Sunday.

"There are guys who have been in this situation before. It could be irrelevant, it could be important," he said.

"Any kind of experience that they can bring to the team is very much welcome. They'll know that you don't need to go out and do it in the first 20 minutes.

"Hopefully we'll let the performance take care of what the result may be. If we can get four tries, fantastic. If not, we'll die trying."  PA