Ireland must negotiate arguably the tournament's trickiest group - containing the Springboks and Scotland - and will then likely need to defeat either hosts France or the All Blacks in Paris in order to secure a maiden last-four berth.They rose to the top of the world rankings on the back of that historic triumph and have remained there ever since thanks in part to an autumn win over world champions South Africa and a Six Nations grand slam.

Ireland must negotiate arguably the tournament's trickiest group - containing the Springboks and Scotland - and will then likely need to defeat either hosts France or the All Blacks in Paris in order to secure a maiden last-four berth.They rose to the top of the world rankings on the back of that historic triumph and have remained there ever since thanks in part to an autumn win over world champions South Africa and a Six Nations grand slam.