Ireland’s upset over the Wallabies really has put the cat among the pigeons at this World Cup..in more ways than one.

You don’t have to draw too long a bow from the best match of the tournament so far to realise the result, potentially, has serious implications for the All Blacks.

I’m really interested now – and concerned in the same breath – to see how the French react to this result.

Article by Justin Marshall

Believe me, they’ll be thinking long and hard about it.

When you think about their path to the final, a loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday is now not such a bad thing.

It’s probable that if France drop that game they’ll fall into the more favourable side of the draw against teams they’re used to playing, personnel they know, and tactics they’re more familiar with.

If you’re coach Marc Lievremont you have to look at the bigger picture. I’ll be really interested to see the team they pick and the mentality they go in with. Especially the latter. The French can be easily distracted.

This would be the worst outcome from an All Blacks perspective. They’ve been quite flamboyant with their selections to date, and would have been banking on this pool decider to get the team in motion for the quarterfinals. All of a sudden, this could become a game without the intensity they’ve been anticipating.

So much now depends on the French approach. Lose and they go into the side of the knockout draw with England, and maybe Wales or Ireland. Win and they probably end up with Argentina, the Springboks and Wallabies.

You don’t have to have the brainpower of Graham Henry to work out which would be more favourable for France.

Now, I don’t want to question anyone’s integrity here, but this is a tournament, and you would be stupid not to give yourself the best chance to get to the final. It’s just common sense.

How would it be any different than what Japan did by sending out their second-string side to face the All Blacks in Hamilton? Coaches have a main goal in mind.

However, I don’t see the All Blacks taking a similar attitude. We’ve got a completely different mentality than the French. Our rugby community wouldn’t accept us looking that far ahead, let alone giving less than best effort.

But if I’m an All Blacks coach examining the way things have worked out I would be saying: ‘bugger’.

On the other side of the draw you would have a more viable chance of getting to the final, because the strength is not as good, and tactically, it’s more valuable to be up against teams you don’t play regularly.

The difficulty now facing the All Blacks is what starting XV do they choose.

Do they pick specialists – guys who play regularly in certain positions, such as Mils Muliaina or Cory Jane –  or do they go down another line of thinking and find a way to get all the best players on the field.

On form they have to find somewhere for Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Dagg, which wouldn’t necessarily mean Mils missing. That’s where they’ll be weighing the question of specialists versus finding room for form men.

I’m hearing people say they can’t look at Williams on the wing because he’ll get found out defensively. I don’t buy that. There’s not a lot of evidence at this World Cup of wings running around opposition numbers.

I wouldn’t have a problem having Sonny there when you’ve got a genius like Conrad Smith inside. I call him “The Cleaner” and having the world’s best defender in his position would help Sonny get through any issues he might have.

Fullback’s going to be an interesting call. Dagg is as confident on the wing as he is at No 15, and he’s got all the skills. If you want to stay with Mils for solidity and experience, you just put Dagg on the wing.

Halfback is the other big decision. Andy Ellis went extremely well against Japan and he’s the best distributor in the country.

But I’d be comfortable with any combination of the three of them. They’ve all got elements of their games different from each other, and nobody really stands out in terms of form. It’s a similar story at lock between Sam Whitelock and Ali Williams.

Just a final word on that famous Irish upset on Saturday night in Auckland.

What a great showcase it was for the World Cup, because of the atmosphere and intensity, but also because it shows upsets can happen.

I doubt the Wallabies were complacent, but they were certainly out-enthused and out-passioned.

I haven’t seen the Irish play like that for a long time. It shows what you can do when you come with
that attitude.

Justin Marshall played 81 games for the All Blacks at halfback, including the 1999 and 2003 World Cups.