Ireland’s potential route to World Cup glory is downright scary

It would be like winning a Grand Slam, crammed into an even shorter, far more punishing time frame.

There are two ways of looking at the scheduling of Ireland's World Cup fixtures - two handy games to play most of the squad and let the team build up to peak form, or a gentle start with a hellacious slog to the finish line. Canada and Romania have been put away but the real work is about to begin.

If Ireland are to claim their first ever World Cup, they must undergo the sternest test of their character any of their squad have ever faced. All told, it would be five matches in 27 days. To put that into perspective, when Ireland won the Grand Slam in 2009 they played their five matches over seven weeks [42 days] with 13- and 14-day gaps before and after their narrow victory over England at Croke Park.

On Sunday, Ireland face Italy [world number 14] at the Olympic Stadium in London. One week later and France [7] are the opponents. If Ireland win both games, and top their World Cup pool for only the second time, they will get another seven days to prepare for a quarter final against, most likely, Argentina [8] or Tonga [13]. Coming out trumps of 'Quarter Final 3' sets up an October 25 semi, at Twickenham, against - based on current form - Wales [2] or South Africa [5]. Were Joe Schmidt's men to successfully navigate that last four clash, they may finally tangle with New Zealand [1] after a six-day gap.

'Hex'

Asked about the potential workload, and the inevitability of injuries along the way, Schmidt was pragmatic. "Without wanting to put a hex on anyone, this [Italy] game is a bit tougher than the last two. It will be a challenge for us. "Inevitably, when you go up a level, there is a likelihood that someone will cop an injury. "It is testament to the ground-work [Ireland strength and conditioning coach] Jason Cowman did with the squad prior to the tournament, in that we didn't lose many in the pre-World Cup phase. We've managed to stay intact since then. "You just touch wood and hope that it continues." There will be an obscene amount of wood-touching going on during the month of October.