Irish set for men in black

Tired and bruised, the Ireland under-21 squad was afforded 24 hours' leave of absence from all things rugby yesterday. Tuesday's 12-3 victory over Argentina had left a physical legacy, a fact acknowledged by the management team. The most strenuous item on yesterday's schedule was a sightseeing trip of Buenos Aires followed by a reception in the Irish Embassy in the evening.

The mood within the camp, in contrast to the pervading disappointment after the French defeat, was upbeat. Despite the tired limbs, thoughts had already strayed towards the tomorrow's clash with New Zealand at the San Isidro club. Irish captain Leo Cullen admitted that the possibility of earning a place in the semi-finals of the tournament was a huge motivating factor.

"We can't rely on favours from anyone else so we have got to go and win this game, however difficult. We haven't specifically examined the strengths and weaknesses of the New Zealanders yet, but in watching their match against Argentina, twice, you do pick up general patterns.

"Even though we were specifically analysing the Argentineans with regard to Tuesday's game, it was obvious that New Zealand are a strong, well-balanced team. They have a good scrum and a reasonable line-out, although that suffers a little bit from their hooker's wayward throwing. They are physically very strong in the centre and in the back three have strong-running players.

"But they did display a certain frailty under the high ball. There are certainly areas that we can target. For most of us it is a first chance to play New Zealand and we relish the prospect." Cullen, who has captained Ireland on more occasions at under-21 level than anyone else (13 games, 10 wins), was quick to pay tribute to his team-mates for their victory over Argentina.

"There was an initial shock when Shane went off and we had been reasonably in control up until then. The next couple of minutes were crucial to the outcome. They kicked the penalty to touch, got another one from the line-out and then opted for a series of scrums. We really dug deep and it was a huge lift to keep them out from five metres.

"We worked very hard for each other in the second half and took the opportunities that presented themselves. Our goal is to get into the top four and after that it's a case of whichever team is left standing: the physical toll will be huge the longer the tournament goes on."

Knots of budding mathematicians could be seen examining the various permutations that would guarantee Ireland a place in the semi-finals of the SANZAR Invitational tournament. Ireland boasts a reasonably strong chance of making the penultimate stage of the competition. The Super 12 points system is in operation, four points for a win, a bonus point for scoring four tries or for losing by seven points or less.

Going into tomorrow's game against New Zealand, Ireland find themselves in second place in Pool A. New Zealand top the group with 10 points, Ireland have five, France four and Argentina none. If one or more teams finish on the same number of points, then points for will determine qualification (New Zealand (68), France (43), Ireland (31), Argentina (24).

Beating New Zealand is the primary target, but qualification could be achieved if they lost and Argentina beat France preferably without scoring four tries or more and by a greater margin than seven points. Ireland's preoccupation will be to ensure that they are as competitive as possible against the All Black Colts. To win would be a huge fillip, but to score 15 plus points is almost equally important.

New Zealand rested 11 players yet still comfortably eased past France 32-19 and along with South Africa in Pool B appear the two most accomplished teams in the tournament. If Ireland were to finish second in the pool then they would probably face the young Springboks in the semi-final, with New Zealand taking on Australia in the other.

The Irish management will not announce a side until later today, but the likelihood is that there will be a couple of new caps; Old Belvedere's Andy Dunne and Dungannon flanker Andrew Hughes two strong contenders.

There will definitely be a change in the centre as Shane Horgan misses the match through suspension. There will be no appeal to the one-match ban he received after being sent off (ludicrously having seen the tape) in the Argentina game.