New reality replaces Adelaide high
Considering the physical nature of last Sunday's clash with Argentina, it was inevitable the players would be carrying a number of knocks and bruises.
Alan Quinlan is gone, and with David Wallace arriving yesterday, coach Eddie O'Sullivan had further options to ponder.
O'Sullivan also revealed Victor Costello and Kevin Maggs would be available for selection in spite of thigh and ankle injuries, and the fit-again Gary Longwell and Anthony Foley are also in the frame.
As they come down from the high of Adelaide, the importance of Saturday's game is beginning to dawn on the Irish party. The 'give it a lash' mentality prevailing on Sunday night and Monday, has given way to a more sober assessment.
Beating the champions would mean a quarter-final against Scotland or Fiji rather than France.
To do so, everybody accepts Ireland need to improve appreciably on their performance against Argentina.
"We have a minimum of two games left in the World Cup," O'Sullivan mused. "The most important game to win is the second.
"If we win on Saturday and lose the following week, we're going home. If we lose on Saturday and win the following week, we stay on.
"What we have to do against Australia is give it our best shot and make a different landscape for ourselves going into the quarter-finals.
"That doesn't mean we're taking our foot off the pedal for Saturday. What it might mean is, if a player is borderline whether you'd rest him and make sure he's fit for the quarter-final. It doesn't mean we won't be hitting any harder or trying any less.
"The match at Lansdowne Road last season does have a bearing on this one. If you've beaten a team before, you believe you can beat them again.
"We know if we get it right on the day, we can give Australia a hell of a game, and if we get it wrong, that we can get a hell of a pounding ... we experienced that in Perth in June [a 45-16 loss]."
Still, the attraction of Scotland or Fiji instead of France in the quarter-finals is growing all the time in the Irish camp.
Even though his side have won three of their last four matches against the French, Eddie O'Sullivan is under no illusions: "They have been quietly keeping their powder dry. People were writing them off after the Six Nations and then their summer tour down in Argentina was a bit of a catastrophe.
"But we all know you write them off at your peril. In a tournament of this size, there are two key elements preparation and timing.
"France had a shaky start against Fiji, and they were impressive and ruthless against Scotland. A ruthless French team is a very dangerous team and whoever plays them in the quarter-finals has their work cut out. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, there's a bit of a battle to go first."
Most believe Ronan O'Gara is now ahead of David Humphreys for the out-half berth but the coach has no intention of showing his hand just yet. He sighed: "Here we go again.
"We want to put out the guy who will do the best job for us on Saturday. Sometimes the job description changes but with the two players we have, it's a toss of a coin. I'm not going into the selection meeting here."
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