A lot of water still needs to pass under the bridge but it is heavily odds-on now that Ireland will play South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Joe Schmidt's side put themselves in pole position to win Pool A with a 27-3 win over Scotland in their opener in Yokohama.
Wins over hosts and minnows Russia will guarantee Ireland top the table and play the runners-up of Pool B.
And that looks certain to South Africa who lost out to New Zealand in a thrilling match this weekend.
The Springboks though will also now go into calmer waters with Namibia and Canada making up the rest of the group.
In sum, it looks likes highly likely that Ireland will square off with South Africa in the last eight.
Here are all the details for that potential clash:
When will it be on?
The match would kick off at 11.15am on Sunday, 10 October.
Where will it be on?
Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, which has a capacity of 49,970.
What channel will it be on?
The match would be shown on RTE, eir Sport and you will also be able to follow all the action on the Irish Mirror Sport's live blog.
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