New Plymouth in the rain.

Joe Schmidt will ask his team of All Blacks slayers to do it all over again this Saturday as Ireland attempt to win a World Cup quarter-final for the first time in their history.

Four years on from that famous defeat in Brighton, and South Africa are again playing second-fiddle to Japan.

Size isn't everything. Even for the Springboks.

No-one could know it at the time but Ireland's relationship with the All Blacks changed irrevocably in November of 2013.

There was a time when Johnny Sexton’s schoolboy half-back partner in Japan was Vinny Hammond.

Like it or not, last weekend’s typhoon-related cancellations in the final round of World Cup pool games have given us some inequitable quarter-final match-ups in terms of preparation times for the protagonists.

Like it or not, last weekend’s typhoon-related cancellations in the final round of World Cup pool games have given us some inequitable quarter-final match-ups in terms of preparation times for the protagonists.

Ireland's bid to overturn Aki's red card sanction proves unsuccessful.

Hansen was in typically mischievous mood when he set the scene on Monday.

Bundee Aki will head into a disciplinary hearing in Tokyo today to decide his World Cup fate with the backing of old friends from the Samoa camp as Ireland hoped for clemency for their centre ahead of this weekend’s quarter-finals.

Bundee Aki’s tackle may have been the topic of most conversations after Saturday’s defeat of Samoa but it was far from the only hit to take the breath away.

The biblical scale of the devastation began to emerge from the crack of dawn: landslides, floods, minor earthquakes, mass evacuations and, worst of all, the ever-rising death toll.

With qualification for the knockout phase secured after an Ireland performance more in keeping with what we have come to expect from this squad, the only outstanding issue surrounded the not insignificant detail as to whom Ireland would meet in their quarter-final in Tokyo next weekend.

Presumption has already made fools of many of us at this World Cup.

Ireland looked back to their ruthless, clinical best in a dominant 47-5 win over Samoa in Fukuoka.

Ireland booked their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a comprehensive victory over Samoa.

It was Samoa who provided the opposition for Joe Schmidt’s introduction to Test rugby as Ireland’s head coach, way back when in November 2013.

The sound of song swept through the corridors of the Hakatana mori Stadium as the Samoan players trickled back into their dressing-room after the captain’s run yesterday morning here in Fukuoka.

Perspective has never been far away on this trip, wonderful though it has been.

Donal is in Fukuoka ahead of Ireland's match against Samoa as he surveys the damage of yesterday's World Rugby announcement.

Joe Schmidt is hoping Ireland’s long lead-in to their final pool game will help his team put in the performance tomorrow that will take them into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Robbie Henshaw will belatedly begin his 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign against Samoa on Saturday after Ireland named a team close to full strength in their bid to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Vaeluaga Steve Jackson believes his Samoan side will be all the more dangerous a proposition for Ireland this weekend precisely because of the fact that their involvement in this World Cup will end, regardless of the outcome, with the final whistle.

Ireland’s final World Cup pool game against Samoa on Saturday was given the green light by tournament organisers in Tokyo on Thursday morning but the effects of Typhoon Hagibis could still have far-reaching consequences for Joe Schmidt’s team.

Tadhg Furlong likes a bowl of ramen or a parcel of gyoza as much as the next man, but there comes a time when this son of Wexford farming stock hankers for a bit of beef, and he sated that appetite in some style in Fukuoka over the weekend.

England’s World Cup bid was just minutes old when Billy Vunipola launched himself into contact off the back of a lineout and Tonga’s Zane Kapeli floored him with a tackle that landed the big No 8 flat on his arse.

Jacob Stockdale is not just refusing to press the panic button on Ireland’s attack, the wing is relishing the opportunity to right some wrongs against Samoa on Saturday.

In the perfect world, the one the squad envisioned on the flight out to Japan, Ireland would already have their slot booked in the quarter-final by this stage.

Ireland are carrying on regardless as they wait for guidance from World Rugby on whether Typhoon Hagibis will affect their final pool game against Samoa on Saturday in Fukuoka.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) says there has been a number of confirmed cases in the Kanto Region.

Andy Farrell would have happily sacrificed a heavier deficit in the points difference column in exchange for a victory over Japan but if Ireland can return to form this Saturday it will have meant the lessons of that shock defeat have been learned.

There may be an ill wind blowing his way this weekend but as far as Andrew Porter is concerned the only storm that matters is the one Ireland can produce against Samoa.

Tadhg Beirne isn’t about to start fretting over Typhoon Hagibis and its progress through the Pacific.

Bodies and minds rested after a weekend off in Fukuoka, Ireland’s players return to work today looking for the elusive spark that could propel them past Samoa and onto a World Cup quarter-final with confidence renewed.

It is not just sumo that occupies the hearts and minds of Japanese sports fans, as this year’s Rugby World Cup is proving on a rapidly increasing basis.

Ireland managed to end up on the wrong side of the penalty count in both the win over Scotland (7-6) and loss to Japan (9-6). That is atypical for a team that takes great stock in its accuracy and discipline.

Frustrated, inconsistent and more susceptible to upsets than their top-tier rivals.

We've been in Japan for three weeks and yet the cheek-by-jowl nature of this country continues to slap you in the face.

And breathe... Nine days will separate yesterday’s highly unsatisfactory defeat of Russia in Kobe and Ireland’s final pool match, against Samoa in Fukuoka, and the sense from the outside looking in is of a squad that should relish the weekend break to come and the chance to switch off from rugby for a bit.

Your round-up of the stories behind the headlines from Day 14 of #RWC2019

The rain came and it was good. Gone was the suffocating humidity that had tortured every pore inside the enclosed Kobe Misaki Stadium for the first two World Cup games here.

60 second on-the-whistle report from Kobe as Ireland secure bonus-point victory over Russia