Ireland hoping for a fright night for Les Bleus

The Irish rugby team is urging fans to raise the roof tomorrow in Melbourne, but only metaphorically.

A night game Australia time, the crunch World Cup quarter- final tie with France takes place in the same covered stadium as last weekend's epic against Australia and the insulated conditions should suit both teams equally. But if the game is as close as most recent meetings between the sides, the crowd could make all the difference.

Ireland's attempts to turn it into a home match look likely to fail, however, with high ticket prices outweighing ancestral loyalty for Irish-Australians and making a sell-out unlikely. The good news is that whatever support Ireland do enjoy, the opposition are likely to be on their own.

The French were forced to send their rooster mascot back to the farm last month and since then, the team's supporters have been nothing to crow about.

Outshouted against Japan, Fiji, and Scotland, it would be a major upset if they won the vocal battle against Ireland. "You have to ask yourself, where are all the French fans?" asked coach Bernard Laporte, clearly worried about the tactical threat posed by a full- strength Fields of Athenry.

The bad news is that inferior support has not muted France's on-field performances and, if the bookies are to be believed, Ireland's prospects tomorrow lie lower than any of our fields.

Despite the fact that Brian O'Driscoll and Co have won three of the last four encounters, the odds-layers are more impressed by the odd one out in that quartet, won 44-5 by France.

The French are 1/4 favourites to win and, on handicap betting, bookmakers give Ireland an

11-point start as they attempt to reach the World Cup's last four for the first time.

While the Irish are a battle- hardened outfit, having endured successive one-point thrillers, their opponents have sauntered into the quarter-finals. Les Bleus are the only team in the last eight not to have had a bad fright on the way to the knock-out stages. Ireland will be hoping that, in France at least, Hallowe'en arrives a week late.