Wales legend predicts Rugby World Cup disaster for Ireland and France this weekend

The shadow boxing is over, we’re in store for four riveting games this weekend as the World Cup enters the knockout stages.

This is where the real business begins, the games that separate the really good players from the more average ones.

And the quarter-finals are extra special this time around because of the lopsided nature of the draw, which means the world’s top four sides going head-to-head and two of them thus unable to reach the semi-finals.

That, of course, plays into the hands of the teams in the weaker half of the draw Wales are in, with Warren Gatland’s men having the path to the semi-finals open to them.

How will the four last eight clashes go? Here’s what I see happening.

Wales v Argentina - Saturday 4pm

I thought Wales were more than capable of winning Pool C, but I didn’t anticipate them doing so quite so comfortably. So full credit to Gatland and his team and in particular to the defence coach Mike Forshaw.

Wales have racked up the points in beating Fiji, Portugal, Australia and Georgia, but make no mistake our success has been built upon the defence.

It has been rock solid for the most part, similar to the Shaun Edwards era, and as such we have capitalised upon errors the opposition have been forced into.

Australia, for example, couldn’t breach the red wall. Time and again they coughed up ball and Wales, having stood firm and resolute, were ruthless in exploiting those mistakes and breaching the Wallabies’ rearguard themselves.

Given the low point from which they were coming, from the Wayne Pivac era and then a disappointing Six Nations, Gatland and Forshaw had to get the defence sorted first and foremost for this tournament. Make Wales hard to beat again and work off that.

Having managed that feat, I feel they can release the brakes a little bit come the knockout stages and try to get the ball out wide more often to Louis Rees-Zammit and Josh Adams. Those two are proven tryscorers at World Cup level and with ball in hand in space they can make Argentina pay.

I love the way Rees-Zammit spots space, kicks ahead, and gathers to score. He reminds me so much of my old Lions and Wales team-mate, the great JJ Williams, in that respect. That was a knack JJ possessed too, he had the vision to spot a gap, the accuracy to execute the kick ahead properly, and once he’d regathered the ball nobody was going to stop him.

Rees-Zammitt possesses similar vision and speed and if the pack do their bit, there is no doubt he and Adams can be Wales’ matchwinners.

Look, if before the draw was even made you’d offered Gatland a quarter-final with Argentina he’d have bitten your hand off. The Pumas had some good results to their name pre-the tournament, but they haven’t been particularly impressive in finishing runners-up in Pool D to England.

They’ve rather stumbled over the line, in fact.

Pricey’s prediction: It’ll be a tight, tense game, but Wales by seven points.

Ireland v New Zealand - Saturday 8pm

Wow, what a clash. The best team in the World Cup to date and world’s number one side this year, versus the tournament’s traditional powerhouses.

Is this finally Ireland’s year? I’m not so sure. This is not a quarter-final they would have wanted.

Despite losing the opening game to France, New Zealand were always going to qualify, but I don’t think anybody anticipated them putting 96 points on Italy.

That night they produced almost perfect rugby, ran the ball superbly at every opportunity, barely made a mistake. That’s how World Rugby would like every team to play, I suspect. They are looking ominous.

Ireland topped the toughest group, ahead of reigning champions South Africa and Scotland, full credit to them for that. But they have never been beyond the quarter-finals in the World Cup. As such, they have been the perennial under-achievers.

They have New Zealand’s number, winning five of the last eight meetings between the two countries, and there is a genuine feeling among many pundits that this Irish side is different to the ones who have failed previously.

But this is as tough a quarter-final as they could get. The Blacks have begun to look fearsome, up front and behind, and I just feel that old Irish World Cup hoodoo is about to strike again.

Maybe that’s me looking at it a little one-eyed as, outside of Wales, New Zealand have always been my next favourite team. But I do feel this could be one game too far for Jonathan Sexton and his team, where the dream ends.

Pricey’s prediction: It’ll be a heck of a game, but New Zealand by five points.

England v Fiji - Sunday 4pm

England would have anticipated playing either Australia or Wales, so will regard meeting Fiji as a bonus.

Not that anybody should be writing off the Fijians, mind. They did beat Australia and they regarded themselves as unlucky to lose to Wales.

But I think their best performance was actually against us, despite the win over the Wallabies, and they’ve dipped below those levels since. Losing to Portugal certainly wasn’t on their agenda.

England have punched well below their weight, despite topping Pool D. Their best performance was also in their opener versus Argentina, when they won comfortably despite playing with 14 men for almost the entire game.

They’ve got some stellar talent, Marcus Smith and Henry Arundell among them, but I don’t feel they’re really making the most of that huge ability that is available to them. And they came close to losing to Samoa, which says everything.

England will make the most of the kicking of Owen Farrell and George Ford to control this one and put points on the scoreboard. They’ll have far too much for the Fijians.

But I’m not sure they can go beyond the semi-finals. The same applies to Wales and we could see a clash between Gatland’s men and the Red Rose for third place.

Pricey’s prediction: The most one-sided of the quarter-finals, England by 10 points.

France v South Africa - Sunday 8pm

If we thought Ireland versus New Zealand was going to be a cracker, what about this one to round off the weekend?

Before the tournament started, I tipped France to reach the final, predicting a re-run of the opening game versus New Zealand.

I’m not so sure any more and I feel the World Cup could end this weekend for the hosts, which would be a desperate blow to them, of course, as well as the organisers.

Yes I know the Springboks only finished as runners-up to Ireland in Pool B, whereas France topped their group. But South Africa lost to the Irish because their No.10 Manie Libbok missed crucial kicks at goal that he really should have nailed.

Handre Polland is back and those failings will be put right with him at fly-half.

Pollard’s influence, mixed with the power pack, makes South Africa such an irresistible force in my eyes.

I know France have some big beasts up front of their own, a really strong set of forwards. But South Africa have two strong sets of forwards. They may opt to put seven on the bench again and I’m not sure how you stop that power when the replacements are as good as the men who start!.

Home advantage may yet get the French over the line, but I just have a feeling the dream will end this weekend.

Pricey’s prediction: South Africa by five points.