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Paul O\u2019Connell says Ireland must draw on the big-game experience which brought a historic series win in New Zealand and the Six Nations Grand Slam to defeat South Africa.<\/p>\n
Test rugby\u2019s top-ranked nation clash with the reigning champions on Saturday evening in a blockbuster Rugby World Cup match in Paris.<\/p>\n
Ireland go into the pivotal Pool B appointment on a 15-match winning streak, including turning over the All Blacks on enemy territory and a Dublin success over the Springboks in November.<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell\u2019s men are viewed as slight underdogs for the Stade de France showdown but forwards coach O\u2019Connell has backed the team to figure out a way to register another statement win.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a big performance for sure,\u201d said the former Ireland captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey obviously present a big physical challenge, I think we present a big physical challenge, and they present a real technical challenge as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a very smart side and one of the things you probably admire most about them is the smarts they can bring along with their physicality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a strength of our side as well, so we speak about this Irish team and what this Irish team stands for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got to bring everything they\u2019ve brought to the big occasions they\u2019ve been in in the last few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a Test series decider down in New Zealand, we\u2019ve had a Grand Slam decider, we\u2019ve had a tough autumn series against some very tricky opposition and the boys have always found a way and figured it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real strength of theirs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to have play super well but they\u2019re also going to have to figure things out and it\u2019s something I really enjoy watching them do when they have a challenge in front of them, how they manage to figure it out as a group and they\u2019re going to have to do that at the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland\u00a0have the chance to qualify for the quarter-finals with a game to spare following crushing bonus-point victories over Romania and Tonga.<\/p>\n
They have won 27 of their last 29 Test matches stretching back to the 2021 Six Nations, with head coach Farrell openly embracing adversity throughout his reign.<\/p>\n
A day after France captain Antoine Dupont suffered a facial fracture against Namibia, O\u2019Connell acknowledged Ireland will have to be adaptable and overcome setbacks in by far their biggest test of the tournament to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is ever straightforward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were down in New Zealand (last summer), I remember I\u2019d meet Mack (Hansen), he\u2019d been down in the park training on his own because he had Covid. Some of the coaching staff had Covid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had all sorts of challenges thrown at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big strength of Andy\u2019s that he revels in it and enjoys it. There\u2019s no doubt there\u2019s going to be ups and downs during the World Cup and there will be ups and downs within the game.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPlayers\u2019 experience and their willingness to embrace those challenges and those obstacles is what has gotten them to where they are at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be plenty of that tomorrow, there is no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n