Fabien Galthié and Keith Wood, the respective captains of France and Ireland, are recognisable figures in world rugby and will figure in one of several interesting duels in their quarter final at Telstra Dome tonight.
Galthié, playing in his fourth Rugby World Cup, is, at 34, two years older than Ireland's talisman hooker Wood, for whom this Tournament represents his third appearance on the sport's greatest stage.
Both players are nearing the end of their international careers and understandably are looking for success in what could be their last shot at the Webb Ellis Cup.
However for one that dream will end in Melbourne.
Galthié and Wood
The French scrum half has won more caps than his Irish counterpart, Galthié having made 62 appearances for Les Bleus to Wood's 57 in the famous green jersey of Ireland with 13 and nine in Rugby World Cups respectively.
However, while Galthié has the edge in both the age and experience stakes, Wood tips the scales at 105 kg to the Frenchman's 86 kg and interestingly has outscored his opposite number by five Rugby World Cup tries to one.
Surprisingly, given their longevity on the international scene, Galthié and Wood have played against each other only twice both results going Frances's way, 32-15 in Dublin, January 1997 and 44-5 in Paris five years later.
Galthié did face Ireland in January 1994, but Wood was on the bench for the 35-15 defeat at Parc des Princes in Paris, the hooker not making his international debut until later that year. A situation that was reversed in March 1998 when Wood played against a Galthié-less France.
Both players have received recognition on the international stage, Galthié succeeding Wood as the IRB International Player of the Year in 2002, and while they have great respect for each other, the Frenchman insists this will be forgotten on the pitch.
"We shouldn't let there be some place for feelings, there will be enough time for that after the match," Galthié told French newspaper L'Equipe this week.
Michalak and O'Gara
Another interesting duel will be between fly halves Frédéric Michalak and Ronan O'Gara, the French young gun and the Irishman five years his senior at 26 who will have kicking responsibilities for their respective teams tonight.
O'Gara has worn the green jersey of Ireland on 37 occasions, more than double the number of caps [15] that Michalak has for France, although this statistic is balanced out by the fact that both are playing in their first Rugby World Cup.
In this Tournament it is Michalak that has shone brighter, the 21 year old having ended the Pool stages as the leading points scorer with 78 points from his three matches. O'Gara, by contrast, has scored 30 points from his four appearances, two of them as a replacement for David Humphreys.
Laporte and O'Sullivan
This is also the first RWC for both coaches, Bernard Laporte having taken over at the French helm in 1999 and Eddie O'Sullivan with the Ireland ship two years later.
Laporte and O'Sullivan have both selected experienced line ups, the average age of each being 28, and things could not be closer with the teams separated by virtually nothing on the latest official IRB world rankings.
France are fourth and Ireland have dropped to fifth after their 17-16 defeat by Australia last weekend.
French Team Manager Jo Maso echoed his captain's sentiments earlier this week when he said: "We respect the Irish, but they have to know we are on the field to beat them".
France or Ireland?
There will be a lot of Irish in Melbourne for this match, but France will also have their fair share of supporters at Telstra Dome for the 18:30 kick off. Les Bleus have become used to the crowd supporting the other team, having played Japan in Townsville, a city which took the Cherry Blossoms to their hearts during their three week stay.
Another interesting factor is the possibility of fatigue, for this will be Ireland's third big match in two weeks, while for France their first team have not played for 15 days after sitting out the 41-14 defeat of the USA Eagles in Wollongong.
Ireland have also never before gone beyond the quarter finals of a Rugby World Cup, France by comparison have failed to do so only once when, in 1991, they fell 19-10 to England.
And so the adventure continues ... with live coverage available on the rugbyworldcup.com match tracker.