France manager Jo Maso has said his side would rather play Ireland than Australia in the quarter-finals, despite Eddie O'Sullivan's side's defeat to the champions last Saturday by the narrowest of margins.
"Frankly we would prefer to play against Ireland in the quarter-finals than Australia, the title holders, at home," Maso said before warning against French complacency. "The Ireland match is the one not to lose. If we do, afterwards life stops."
France coach Bernard Laporte echoed the sentiment, accusing Ireland of inconsistency. "Recently Ireland have been playing with a lot of desire and enthusiasm and, as usual, they never give up.
"However, it has to be said as well that they switch between the good and the less good. You can see their match against Australia in two ways - either it will have given them a lot of confidence or they have played their best shot."
RANKINGS: Ireland's one-point loss to Australia in the World Cup means they slip from third to fifth in the latest IRB world rankings, issued yesterday.
Australia climb from fourth to third while France move into fourth spot following their win over the United States. England retain their place at the top of the rankings, ahead of New Zealand.
ENGLAND: Simon Shaw could go straight into quarter-final action for England after arriving in Australia as replacement for the injured Danny Grewcock.
Wasps' second-row Shaw was confirmed yesterday as replacement for Grewcock, who broke his left hand in England's win over Uruguay.
Expected to arrive in Brisbane last night, Shaw could find himself on bench duty as cover for Martin Johnson and Ben Kay when England tackle Wales at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
Winger Iain Balshaw, who suffered an ankle injury in the same match may yet play this weekend.
"It's not as bad as it looked but I won't get a full medical report until later," said England coach Clive Woodward yesterday.
Flanker Richard Hill, though, continues to give cause for concern, after missing England's last three World Cup games through hamstring trouble.
NEW ZEALAND: Jerry Collins's rib injury could prevent the number eight playing for New Zealand against South Africa on Saturday.
"There has to be a question mark about him playing but it will be a situation where, if the pain settles down, he may be in contention," said team doctor John Mayhew. "We had a CT scan of his chest and abdomen, which showed no significant injury there, basically he's got a rib cartilage injury."
SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa coach Rudolf Straeuli has said he is unlikely to call up a replacement for influential loose forward Joe van Niekerk who was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury sustained in the side's win over Samoa last Saturday.
"We've got a squad of 29 players and when we feel we need to call on somebody we will. At the moment we don't feel it's necessary," said Straeuli.
SCOTLAND: Scotland back row Simon Taylor's injury is not as bad as first feared and he is expected to play in Saturday's quarter-final against Australia. Taylor suffered a swollen left knee in Scotland's win over Fiji last week.
