Eddie O'Sullivan is confident he retains the backing of Irish rugby chiefs and declared the inquest into a poor World Cup would not open until the end of the tournament.

Ireland's ambitions of qualifying for the quarter-finals were left teetering on the brink of ruin at the Stade de France last night after the hosts coasted to a 25-3 triumph.

O'Sullivan's men must now score four tries and beat Argentina by at least seven points when the two sides meet in their final pool match at Parc des Princes tomorrow week.

Pressure is mounting on O'Sullivan, who was curiously handed a four-year contract extension by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) last month before the World Cup had started.

The new deal raised eyebrows when it was first announced, but the baffling timing now looks even more premature following three World Cup displays.

Questioned on the contract for the first time during the World Cup, O'Sullivan today insisted there would be no knee-jerk reactions to events of the past two weeks.

When asked if he thought the vultures were circling, O'Sullivan replied: "No, I think the IRFU gave me the four years because they want me to do the job the four years.

"Everyone knew this was the toughest pool in the World Cup - and we're not out of the tournament yet.

"Maybe we should wait for the requiem until we're out of it. For now its onwards and upwards and we'll leave the review until after the tournament."

Few are backing Ireland to upset Argentina on the final day of the group stages, let alone secure the vital try-scoring bonus point.

O'Sullivan hoped the sloppy, error-strewn victories over Namibia and Georgia were just aberrations, but they showed too many errors and were eventually outplayed against France.

The permutations required against Argentina will be a tough ask but O'Sullivan is ready to go for broke in a last-ditch effort to reignite the nation's fading quarter-final dreams.

"We have a mountain to climb against Argentina, there's no doubt about that. We have a week to figure out how to go about that one," he said.

"We can score five tries against Argentina. It won't be easy, but it's possible. There will be a lot of speculation if we can achieve that goal or not. The trick for us is to put together a high-risk strategy to enable us to do that.

"It might be a high-risk strategy, but that's what we have to go with.

"People outside the camp may have given up hope but inside the camp we haven't. The players are very disappointed but we'll get them back on their feet."

O'Sullivan must somehow lift a squad low in confidence and besieged by off-field problems before the return to Paris.

Leinster fullback Girvan Dempsey took a bang on his collar bone during Clerc's second try and his fitness will be assessed over the coming days.