Ireland 44-10 Romania
by Michael McCann
at Wembley

ROMANIAN coach Lynn Howells expects Ireland to top Rugby World Cup Pool D and progress further than rivals France, through having a more complete game.

Howells is well-equipped to compare the two after watching his side lose to both, 38-11 against France last Wednesday and 44-10 to Ireland on Sunday.

The pair meet in Cardiff on October 11 in a possible pool-winners decider to avoid defending champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

A Rugby World Cup record attendance saw Ireland beat Romania to go top of pool D, where Howells expects them to remain ahead of France.

“They have the same strength in depth but I think Ireland have a more complete game than France — I think they are better equipped to go further into the competition.

“From what analysis we have done on Ireland I think they are pretty complete, we’ve seen it through the last two Six Nations competitions where they have had to play in many different ways.

“If they need to chase the ball, close the ball or play a kicking game they are capable of doing it.

“I think Ireland are pretty much a complete team, definitely quality players there and Joe (Schmidt) is a very good coach.”

Having seen his side claim expected bonus-point wins over Canada and Romania, Ireland coach Schmidt admitted their tournament only now begins in earnest.

“Qualification starts now because if you win three pool games you’re pretty much secure in going through, particularly with a couple of bonus points.”

Ireland face Italy at Wembley on Sunday knowing a win will secure their future passage, with Schmidt suggesting the game will be like a knockout match.

“We know that we can qualify if we win this weekend, the game against France just decides who we play in the quarter-final if we can win next week.

“Italy will know that they need to win next weekend so for us it kind of becomes a last-16 game because then I feel the play-off nature of the World Cup begins week-on-week.

“We have to make sure we are very well prepared for Italy — Sergio Parrise is very much a talisman for the Italian team, who are starting to build their way into the tournament.”