Ireland v New Zealand: Rugby World Cup 2023 quarter-final – live

Welcome to Paris, where you may have heard there’s a rugby match on.

In a tournament with a few unexpected outcomes, this match looked nailed on from a long way out. Ireland seamlessly moving from the pinnacle of the world rankings to the top spot in the group to face New Zealand, whose second place behind France in Pool A speaks to their current status.

But academic considerations of form and progress are often flung from the high balcony of a Rugby World Cup knockout. The All Blacks can tell many a tale of those years between 1987 and 2011, when being the best team in the world counted for nought in the wake of a defeat; visions of Phillippe Bernat-Salles haunting insomniac hours and whispers of “four more years, boys” puncturing the quiet moments.

And, of course, Ireland. A nation that has inexplicably never won a World Cup knockout match, falling at the last-eight hurdle each time. Surely this time it will be different, after all, they are facing a team they have beaten five times since the famous 2016 victory in Chicago? Moreover, Andy Farrell’s men clinched a first ever series win in NZ last summer, prompting a tearful Peter O’Mahony to say, “This has never been done before. It’s something I never thought was possible as a young fella, but now the young fellas back home will know this can be done.”

Leaving aside the young fellas, this Ireland squad and coach are under no illusions regarding their ability and potential. Grand Slam Champions, unbeaten in 17 matches and a purring, brutal engine in which all know their role and perform it brilliantly.

New Zealand have a few ghosts in their machine, with some of their ageing players not as evergreen as those on the other team and a level of performance that has been strong but just below the very best. Ironically, they would do well to take inspiration from one of their famous defeats: England in the 2019 semi, where a strong but unfancied team came up against a juggernaut and ran it off the road. More simply, they may just remind themselves that they absolutely battered today’s opponents in the QF the week before.

What will the outcome be? Another doubt-splintering result for O’Mahony to show to the young folks back home, or rugby’s historical natural order reinstated by the All Blacks?

Settle in, it’ll not be long now.