What happens if Ireland and New Zealand ends in a draw? 

A place kicking competition could decide knockout ties in France over the coming weeks. 

TO A TEE: Jack Crowley gets in some practice at the Stade de France. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Ireland's evenly-matched quarter-final showdown with the All Blacks in Paris on Saturday night is widely understood to be a coin-toss match-up. 

But what happens if a Rugby World Cup knockout game ends in a draw? 

Well, the value of having some sharp-shooting place kickers in your side will be more important than ever. 

According to tournament rules, in the case of a draw after 80 minutes the sides will play 10 minutes a side of extra time.

If the teams cannot still be separated, the match officials will conduct a place kicking competition featuring five kickers from each side. And you thought normal time was tense. 

Rugby has seen this scenario play out twice before -- and each occasion has had Irish involvement.

In 2009, the Heineken Cup semi-final between Cardiff and Leicester saw Irish star Johne Murphy miss a kick in a dramatic shootout. 

Cardiff failed to make the Tigers pay for the mistake however and the Premiership side went on to progress. 

And last year, Munster's European Cup quarter-final was decided in similar circumstances against Toulouse; with the Reds losing out 4-2. 

At the World Cup, the referee is informed of the five players who've been nominated to take kicks. 

They'll then place kick from three different areas, starting with a shot from directly in front of the posts on the 22-metre line.

It then moves to the 15-metre line on the left-hand and a third attempt on the 15-metre line on the right-hand side.

Irish supporters and players will hope they can take care of business well before kicks are needed.