Former All Black's wild Rugby World Cup conspiracy theory

Ireland has never made it past the quarterfinals at a Rugby World Cup. It’s an unbelievable stat, but the Irish are reminded of this painful truth every four years.

But with thousands of travelling supporters donned in green flocking to the streets of France, there’s a genuine belief that Ireland can break that curse and go all the way at the sports showpiece event.

The world’s top-ranked side dispatched of minnows Romania in their tournament opener earlier this month, and have extended their long-lasting winning streak with wins over Tonga and South Africa.

Ireland can secure the top seed in Pool B with just a sole bonus point against Scotland in Paris next weekend. If they’re successful, a potential knockout clash with the All Blacks looms.

It would be a rematch of their 2019 quarterfinal in Japan which saw New Zealand win 46-14. The All Blacks have only failed to make the semis once, and that was at the ’07 World Cup in France.

Former All Blacks playmaker Stephen Donald believes the world champion Springboks may have thrown their clash with Ireland to avoid New Zealand in the quarters.

“Deep down, would you ever put it past the South Africans to go, ‘Do we want the All Blacks in a quarter-final? I think we take this route,’” Donald said on SENZ.

New Zealand-born centre Bundee Aki has been a man-possessed during a series of Player of the Match performances at the World Cup.

Aki, 33, stole the show during the big win over Tonga in Nantes, and backed up that display with another impressive performance against the Boks.

With flyhalf Johnny Sexton leading the team around the park, Ireland has never looked this good at a Rugby World Cup. It would be naïve to write them off because of historical struggles.

But their strategy, which Donald said was “the best phase play in all of rugby,” could come back to haunt them later in the tournament.

“It was a brutal old thing, wasn’t it? It was everything you’d hope for in a game… it could’ve been the final, it was that sort of intensity and that sort of quality,” Donald added.

“But for me, and I’m looking at it through my All Black rose tinted glasses, if you’re the All Blacks, you’re sitting back and watching that, you disrupt the Irish set-piece and therefore you win that first contact and that first phase, I don’t know what Ireland’s got to go to.

“You watch that first half where a South African lineout absolutely destroyed the Irish, they couldn’t get any of their game going.

“The Irish got one lineout, one five-man lineout going, and all of a sudden they got within an inch of scoring.

“It’s a done deal that they’re probably the best phase play attack in all of rugby. When they get going and humming they’re phase play is brilliant.

“However, if you can stifle them at the set-piece and stifle them at that first ruck which goes hand in hand, there’s not a whole lot they go to.

“Yes Bundee Aki was brilliant in the midfield – I can’t believe that Bundee Aki will have that sort of freedom against anyone else now.”