Home nations try for places in Rugby World Cup semis

At least one of the home nations (minus Scotland who were knocked out in the group stages) will go through to the finals of the Rugby World Cup following Saturday’s games. Wales are pitted against Ireland while England face the cross-channel challenge of France.

Fired-up captain Lewis Moody has set the tone for England by declaring “Never fear”.

The Bath flanker vowed he will not take a backward step at Eden Park and where Moody treads, the England team must follow.

Moody’s message is that whatever France side turns up at Eden Park, England have the quality to repeat their 2003 and 2007 World Cup victories over Les Bleus.

“Fear to me says you’re worried about a tackle or you’re concerned you might get injured,” said Moody.

“They’re physical hard games playing the French. At this level you expect it to be an intense encounter. You have to be prepared for that but you’re also prepared to deliver that intensity as well.

Tough crowd

France head coach Marc Lievremont believes everyone is against England ahead of their World Cup quarter-final at Eden Park.

Lievremont, though, says England’s unpopularity invokes a siege mentality which makes them difficult to beat.

“Of course the rivalry still exists between us, but when it comes to the English I think it exists with all the nations in the world – if I’m to believe all the messages of support from the New Zealanders, the Argentinians and the Australians that we come across in the street,” Lievremont said.

“They are united against them (England), but that’s also what makes them strong, this ability to surpass themselves, to unite together against the rest of the world.”

Battle of the Celts

Meanwhile, an evenly-balanced game is expected in the fight between Wales and Ireland. Wales completed their preparations with a training run at Wellington Regional Stadium, and there is no doubt they are mentally and physically ready for the confrontation that awaits.

“As much as we’ve had two big wins against Namibia and Fiji, no disrespect to those teams, at half-time we could have taken our foot off the gas, but we finished the job off in a very professional manner,” Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde said.

“When you couple that with the arm wrestles that we were in with South Africa and Samoa, to come out on top of one of them, and we should have come out on top of the other, we’re in a good place and we can take a lot of confidence with that.”

Wales skipper Sam Warburton added: “The game is exciting because it’s 50-50.

“Both teams believe they can beat each other, and if you look at form over the last couple of years, it’s pretty even.”

Ireland number eight Jamie Heaslip picked out Shane Williams as his player to watch in the Wales side, while Welsh forwards coach Robin McBryde highlighted Rory Best as a crucial player in the Ireland set-up.

Whoever gets over the line on Saturday will have a week to recover before they face the winners of the other quarter-final in the top half of the draw, France or England.