It’s not all doom and gloom but...

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN’S neck — not to mention his job — is not necessarily on the line at the Stade de France tonight. But his stature as Ireland’s most successful coach will take a battering if his team fails to hugely improve on recent performances, all the more so should the gamble of pairing the untried Eoin Reddan with an out of sorts Ronan O’Gara at half-back prove a failure.

If Ireland are overrun, as has happened so often in the past in the French capital (we have won only once there since 1972) the wrath of all Irish rugby fans will descend not only on O’Sullivan but also on those in the IRFU who extended his contract by four years just before the World Cup. It’s only the 15 players he has put on the field from the kick-off and the seven on the bench who can now help Eddie to avoid that unwelcome denunciation so it will almost certainly be a very edgy Irish squad tonight.

Intriguingly, though, that will be even more so the case with Bernard Laporte and his French players given that they will be eliminated from their own World Cup should they lose tonight. At least O’Sullivan’s side could still make it to the quarter-finals should they lose although to do so they would have to score four tries against Argentina and win by more than seven points in nine days time at the Parc des Princes.

“We’re both under pressure for different reasons,” O’Sullivan accepted. “We haven’t played well up to now. We need to perform to the standards we have set for ourselves and now it’s time to deliver in a pivotal game in the pool. A loss for France would be catastrophic given that they went into the tournament as one of the favourites and that brings its own pressure.”

As if to make little of supposed disquiet within the squad, O’Sullivan emphasised that “everybody in the Irish camp wants to be here. They want to perform and delivering under pressure is what it’s all about.” Pressed again on the wisdom of omitting a player of Peter Stringer’s experience from the side, he stated: “It was as tough a decision as I’ve ever made as Irish coach but I think it’s the right thing and we’re a better team for it. You can’t rethink it. I was very clear in my mind when I made that decision.”

It’s hardly surprising that the vast majority of the Irish supporters have lost faith in the team after the miserable performances against Namibia and Georgia and are fearing the worst tonight. If they don’t improve their performance level by 50% or even more, then they have become a poor team in the space of a short few months and they will be beaten.

However, I don’t believe it is necessarily a case of all doom and gloom. If they were suddenly to rediscover the standard of rugby that embarrassed South Africa and Australia in the autumn of 2006 and that saw them demolish England at Croke Park last February, then they’d be in with a chance. Furthermore, just as Ireland probably aren’t as good as they thought they were last season, that could well apply to the French to an even greater extent at this point in time.

Look at the key areas in their side and you don’t see a whole lot to get worried about. Fredrik Michalak is a flaky an international out-half; Bernard Laporte is far from sure as to whether Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Clement Poitrenaud represent his best options in the crucial scrum-half and full-back positions. With Fabien Pelous ruled out by injury and Lionel Nallet surprisingly overlooked, their second-row of Jerome Thion and Sebastian Chabal is unproven and could be fallible against the Paul O’Connell-Donncha O’Callaghan axis playing at its fieriest best.

Surely, Chabal’s a more valuable asset coming into the action as a back-row impact replacement with a half hour or so to go. Instead, that’s probably the stage when he’ll be withdrawn in favour of fresh legs. Also departing at that stage will be 34-year-old hooker and captain Raphael Ibanez possibly leaving Les Bleus somewhat rudderless should the game still be in the melting pot at that point.

One can only express profound surprise at the preference for David Marty in the centre ahead of Yannick Jauzion and that Serge Betsen continues to enjoy favour at number six.

All of which, of course, is not to suggest that France are short of talent. The main danger will come from wings Vincent Clerc, the man who snatched victory for his side at the last minute in Croke Park last winter, and Cedric Heymans, their powerful although ageing props Pieter de Villiers, 35, and Olivier Milloud, 32, and the emerging Thierry Dusautoir in the back-row. Nor is examination of their bench likely to inspire Irish confidence given the presence there of the likes of Jauzion, Aurelien Rougerie and Yannick Nyanga.

“We felt the pressure in the first match, now we have released it, that’s it, here we go,” bragged Michalak.

If he’s right and if he himself performs well, Ireland will be in big trouble. That demands top drawer 80 minute performances from Paul O’Connell, Denis Leamy, Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll and a team display light years ahead of anything we have seen over the past few weeks.