Let's hope it doesn't turn into Last Tango in Paris.

Ireland's task this afternoon is Herculean. We have scored just six tries in three World Cup matches thus far and the lack of form has been analysed in depth and detail.

It's been a particularly tough week for the Irish squad. Simon Best has suffered a mystery illness that has ruled him out of the tournament.

And the pressure has been growing by the day as time runs out on our hopes and dreams for success.

Even the bookies don't rate our chances highly . . . Argentina are 8/11 favourites. But in sport, anything is possible. Argentinian coach Marcelo Loffreda said just that on Friday.

"Nothing is impossible in rugby or in life. They can do it. We know how good they are. But we will try our best to stop them.

"They will put a lot of pressure on us with their pack and in my opinion they have two of the best centres in the world so we have to be careful. We cannot relax especially against this Ireland team. They have been together for many years and the Irish people, they are battlers. The country has been fighting battles for 1,000 years."

His views were echoed by captain Agustin Pichot: "There is a psychological part to it and that's very important. We don't care about their previous matches. Ireland are a good team, one of the top five in the world, and we have respect for them. This match bears no relation to the last three they've played."

These are words that Eddie O'Sullivan and the boys would do well to remember as they limber up. Qualification is a long shot but it's not impossible. Spirit has 50 times the strength and staying power of brawn and muscle, and above all else, the desire to win is everything.