Pressure on to ‘glue’ bodies back together

Joe Schmidt has charged his medical staff with putting his players back together to face Argentina in next Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final after Ireland survived a battle of attrition to defeat France last night.

Captain Paul O’Connell is head coach Schmidt’s major concern after leaving the Millennium Stadium on a stretcher cart during the interval of his side’s epic 24-9 victory which also saw Ireland lose fly-half Johnny Sexton and flanker Peter O’Mahony during an immensely physical contest.

The victory secured top spot in Pool D and earned Ireland an extra day to prepare for a return to Cardiff on Sunday and Schmidt indicated last night that he and his backroom team will need every hour they can get, and even that might not be long enough in O’Connell’s case.