‘There’ll be a lot of emotion. It’s a final for both of us’

WHATEVER it takes.

That was Declan Kidney’s view of the various permutations for tomorrow’s Pool C showdown with Italy that will be good enough to take Ireland into the World Cup quarter-finals (8.30am).

Yes, a draw or two losing bonus points against the Italians at the roofed Otago Stadium would see his side move into the last eight for the first time since 2003 but Kidney knows as well as anybody that planning for either scenario is a recipe for disaster, especially if Ireland are to have any ambition of going further than the quarters for the first time in World Cup history.