Ireland

Of all the home nations, the Irish have probably been the most disappointing side. At least England were expected to fare badly, but the Irish have been a let down so far. After a productive four years since the last tournament, they must have entered 2007 with the aim of winning the Six Nations and getting to the world cup semi-finals, yet somehow they have lost ground, and seem to be following the traditional All-Black pattern of peaking between tournaments. Aside from the many playing and personal issues that seem to be dogging them, the most worrying is the way that they have begun to revert to type. For years they have been followed by the tag of plucky underdogs who fight hard with passion but not much finesse or discipline, and crumble whenever faced with any expectation. Four good years of wins in big games seemed to have got that out of their system, but in 2007 they have choked on the big occasions, their discipline has slipped, and perhaps worst of all, their passion has seemed absent. The best prepared, most professional side in Irish history, containing a number of modern greats, have been poor.

The Irish campaign now boils down to one match. They need to find their passion, but not lose their discipline. They need to find their cutting edge, but not lose their composure. The quarter-finals would be just about an acceptable exit point for the side, so long as they go down fighting. If they come up short against Argentina, Eddie O'Sullivan's four-year contract extension might be looking a bit hasty. That said, no side plays the role of the underdog like the Irish, and I can't quite bring myself to write them off. My prediction for the weekend is a narrow and agonising defeat to the Argentinians.