He was also forced out of the action in Brisbane after rolling his ankle in a tackle and coach Eddie Jones fears he is “highly unlikely” to play.

“George has made significant improvement overnight and he’s now rated a 70% chance of playing,” said Jones.

“Giteau’s diagnosis is more positive than we thought. He’s working pretty hard on the injury and obviously keen to play.

“He’s got some ankle ligament damage. We’ll just see how he goes over the next couple of days.”

Giteau is the one man an increasingly desperate Australian media have turned their attentions to this past fortnight in the belief he will inspire the Wallabies to reclaim the glories of 1999.

But Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan, asked for his assessment on the four semi-finalists, believes the hosts and defending champions are being suffocated by expectation.

“I think they have created an incredible pressure cooker for themselves,” said O’Sullivan, referring to the vast media criticism that has followed every victory so far this tournament.

Booking a quarter-final tie with Scotland was met with calls for captain George Gregan and five other players to be axed.

Reaching the semi-finals hardly lightened the mood, with one writer declaring the Australian “pampered poodles are not good enough”.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph posed: “Sack the captain, sack the full-back, make midfield changes, tinker with the back row, look for tight five forwards - hooker Brendan Cannon apart – who are prepared to play like mongrels.

“Bring in Matt Giteau. The kid with the air of adventure and danger. Do anything. Do something. But the question is: will it be anything more than shifting deckchairs on the Titanic?”

The approach staggers O’Sullivan who puts the Wallabies disappointing form down to that one factor.

“The negative reactions to winning games has been incredible,” he said.

“The pressure on the players and the coaching staff is phenomenal and I think that is working against them at the moment.

“If they can shake that off and play rugby, they are one of the best in the world, but they are being suffocated by the expectation of everyone in the country. That can strangle any team and that is their problem.

“There is nothing wrong with Australian rugby if they were allowed to go out and play it. They are a very good rugby team.

“I have always looked into Australian rugby to see what Ireland can get out of it – and we can get a lot because they maximise their potential brilliantly.”

Jones admitted that the pressure had affected his players en route to the semi-final, but is confident the Wallabies have the game plan to beat New Zealand.

“In some ways it does come out when you play, that you are a little bit more stilted in what you do and you feel that pressure of performing,” he said.

“No-one’s expected us to get here. We’ve been written off from day one in the tournament. Well, here we are in a semi-final against New Zealand.”

After the All Blacks romped to a 50-21 victory in Sydney earlier this year, the Wallabies improved substantially before the second Bledisloe Cup meeting.

“Last time we played New Zealand we should have won,” said Jones, referring to the battling 21-17 defeat.

“We’ve improved since then and I’m sure they have too.

“While we’ve been criticised from pillar to post about various aspects of our game, one area of our game that is doing extremely well is our defence and in big games defence is very important.”

If Smith does prove his fitness, Jones is unlikely to make any back-row changes despite the added authority Matt Cockbain brought to the lineout following his introduction.

“It certainly is a different sort of game against New Zealand,” said Jones.

“It’s less of a set piece contest and more of a tackle contest so we’ll certainly take that into consideration in terms of selection.

“We believe we’ve got the game to beat them.”