World Cup quarter-final. Six syllables to chill the bones of any Ireland rugby fan. A peak seemingly so impossible to summit that it makes Mount Everest look like Slieve Donard.
Ireland’s dismal record in rugby’s global showpiece scarcely needs repeating – but we’ll do so anyway. In the 10 editions of the World Cup to date, the Irish have been knocked out in the quarter-finals a ludicrous eight times, the short-lived quarter-final play-off once and the pool stage once. They simply cannot reach the semi-finals.
It doesn’t matter whether they enter as a plucky underdog (1987 – lost 33-15 to Australia) or the No 1-ranked side in the world (2019 – beaten 46-14 by New Zealand); whether they’ve downed a southern hemisphere giant to top their pool (2023 – lost 28-24 to the All Blacks after 37 phases of agony) or have scraped through the groups in second spot (1995 – lost 36-12 to France), the result is the same.
Sometimes it’s one-sided (2003 – beaten 43-21 by Les Bleus, having trailed 27-0 at half-time) and sometimes it’s agonising (1991 – lost 19-18 to Australia thanks to Michael Lynagh’s 80th-minute try in the corner) but it’s always a last-eight exit.
But why are we talking about Ireland’s World Cup wobbles when there is almost a year to go until the latest edition in Australia? Because the very first game of this autumn’s Nations Championship is set to give us a tantalising preview of what could be to come in 12 months’ time.
If everything goes to seeding (a big if, granted..), with both teams topping their pool and negotiating an eminently winnable last-16 clash, then on 31 October 2027 in Brisbane, Ireland and Argentina will do battle in a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. And this Friday night in Dublin, those same teams will try lay down a psychological marker, while kickstarting their autumn in style.
Ireland will be confident. After a 36-14 defeat in Paris to begin the 2026 Six Nations, they reeled off four straight wins to finish second in the table, and only missed out on the title due to Thomas Ramos’s 83rd-minute penalty against England on Super Saturday, before beating Australia and Japan away from home in the summer.
The northern hemisphere table in the Nations Championship looks wide open, with four teams tied on two wins from three so far and all will fancy their chances of topping the pile and reaching the final later this month, although the match against the double world champion Springboks in a fortnight’s time looms large for Ireland.
A trio of key men will be returning to the starting line-up against Los Pumas after missing a year worth of international matches – loosehead prop Andrew Porter, flanker Ryan Baird and wing Mack Hansen – while 23-year-old fly half Sam Prendergast has recovered sufficiently from a wrist injury to wear the No 10 jersey. Prendergast’s fitness is a boost but, truthfully, Ireland are still yet to truly nail down Johnny Sexton’s long-term successor in the position and Jack Crowley being ruled out with a vascular issue in his leg is a blow.
Similarly, the absence of injured captain Caelan Doris hurts, although New Zealand-born thumper Sean Jansen has impressed for Connacht in the past couple of seasons and scored a try off the bench on his Ireland debut against Japan in the summer. This autumn is a golden opportunity for the 27-year-old to cement himself as Doris’s primary backup at No 8 and secure a spot in the first-choice 23 moving forward.
Head coach Andy Farrell is building nicely towards the World Cup and an excellent historical record against Argentina will only buoy him further. Los Pumas have never beaten Ireland on Irish soil (although did down the British and Irish Lions at the Aviva Stadium last summer) and have lost 14 of the 20 total games between the sides.
Their head coach Felipe Contepomi remains a cult hero in parts of the Emerald Isle thanks to a scintillating six-year spell with Leinster during his playing days and they have game-breaking talent dotted throughout the side, most notably in a fearsome back row consisting of Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer and Juan Martin Gonzalez.
A disappointing summer saw them beat only Wales, while losing to England, Scotland, Australia and all-conquering South Africa but the hiring of defensive guru Shaun Edwards as defence coach has made waves. How good Edwards’ Spanish is remains unclear but the Wigan native’s intensity has always been conveyed through more than just words and his coaching style appears to transcend language.
It’s 11 years since the Pumas last gave Ireland a bloody nose but perhaps they should simply pretend this is a World Cup match. Because of the six victories they’ve registered against the men in green, exactly half have come in do-or-die contests at rugby’s most prestigious tournament.
They won the unnecessarily convoluted quarter-final play-off 28-24 to knock Ireland out in 1999, a 30-15 triumph in 2007 sent a Brian O’Driscoll-led outfit packing in the pool stage and a 43-20 quarter-final shellacking ended the 2015 Irish vintage’s hopes of finally tasting a semi-final. Some of Ireland’s darkest, most heart-wrenching rugby days have been authored by snarling Pumas.
If the pair do meet in the World Cup last eight next year, the match will – fittingly – be played on Halloween. At this point, the narrative frankly writes itself, with the ghosts of all Ireland’s past failures needing to be exorcised on the day made to fuel nightmares.
But for now, we get an intriguing preview and the teams have a chance to earn a psychological advantage before that prospective clash. The game suddenly has an added significance for an Ireland side that could do with every bit of assistance possible as they prepare to scale the World Cup mountain and a win would be another hurdle successfully negotiated.
Read MoreNations Championship schedule, results, kick-off times and how to watch
Tadhg Furlong cleared of grabbing opponent’s groin by disciplinary panel
