‘Afraid to dream’: Ireland struggles with expectation as Rugby World Cup kicks off

It’s time for the world’s keenest underdogs to lastly sort out the burden of being a favorite.

Ireland head into the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which begins tomorrow night, as one of the best staff on the planet on present kind, however with a tangible sense of trepidation amongst supporters.

The 20-team match kicks off in Paris when hosts France tackle New Zealand.

Bookies fancy each these groups – together with South Africa – for the trophy forward of Ireland, regardless of being the Irish occupying the highest of the world rankings for the previous 14 months.

Ireland are additionally the reigning Six Nations grand slam champions, recorded a historic collection win in New Zealand final yr, and boast a 13-game successful streak.

But they cannot escape a protracted, bleak historical past of underperformance on the World Cup – crashing out on the quarter-final stage no fewer than seven instances.

To put it one other approach, Ireland have by no means gained a knockout recreation on the World Cup.

Combined with pitching up on the “hard” facet of the draw, you may perceive speak of nerves from Ireland captain Johnny Sexton in Bordeaux forward of the staff’s opening recreation towards minnows Romania.

“It’s very much like a soccer World Cup atmosphere,” he advised reporters.

“And we’re looking forward to that. But also with that comes a bit of nerves.

“We’ve constructed to this second for the final 4 years, so now it is lastly right here the nerves are available in, however it’s about embracing them and going out and making an attempt to play our greatest.”

There are certainly plenty of nerves back home, in a country that traditionally revels in its role as a scrappy sporting underdog, punching above its weight on the world stage.

This is not yet a nation comfortable with the tag of world number one. There is to be no cockiness.

“Think it. Just do not jinx it,” says Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll in a video promoting a certain black stout. He is of course, talking about the title.

Can they win it, I asked the country’s prime minister.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar paused, before tentatively replying: “I actually really feel that this yr may very well be our yr, however we have managed to not pull it off so many instances up to now, I’m nearly form of afraid to hope.”

How is that this the narrative in a rustic that has merely swept all opponents earlier than it?

“I think it’s part of the Irish psyche,” laughs Iain Wallace, director of rugby at Wesley College, a secondary college in Dublin.

“Afraid to dream almost, yeah. I think we’ve an underdog mentality here, and I think we’d be happier going in as number two, number three in the world and having something to prove.

“So it is over to the gamers actually, to show they’re primary.”

Wesley’s most famous product is the current world rugby player of the year Josh van der Flier, an integral member of the Irish team in France.

As dozens of fifth and sixth-year gamers apply on the varsity’s pitches, even these younger sufficient to know nothing however Irish success are cautious about van der Flier’s possibilities of returning residence with a winner’s medal.

Quarter-final, semi-final, quarter-final, last – the predictions of 16-year-olds on the sidelines.

Only Hannah Ritchie voices the not possible.

“I think they can do it,” she says breezily.

“The past season has been incredible, and I have full confidence that they can do it.”

“I think there’s an element of realism within the country,” former Irish and British and Irish Lions participant Rob Kearney tells Sky News.

“Especially after 2019, the last World Cup.

“We had been ranked the primary staff going into the competitors, we had simply come off the again of a grand slam the yr earlier than, and expectation was excessive, the hype was excessive.

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“And we crashed out of that tournament [losing to 46-14 to New Zealand in the quarter-finals]. So I think there’s a little more realism this time around.

“It’s all the time there at the back of your thoughts, realizing that no different staff within the historical past of your nation’s World Cup participation have been in a position to get previous that quarter-final stage.

“It is a big obstacle, a mental obstacle too, but at the same time this team will be very aware that they’re a new group of players.

“They’re very totally different to all of the groups which have gone earlier than. They have damaged historical past earlier than, and they’re going to simply see this as one other alternative to interrupt historical past once more.”

Kearney thinks there’s never been an Irish rugby team more equipped to break the quarter-final jinx, and finally achieve something resembling its full potential.

“Some of the arguments in the past would be that the team peaked too early.

“This staff hasn’t peaked too early, it is simply actually necessary they hit the bottom operating early within the competitors, however in the end every part goes to return all the way down to that quarter-final recreation, supplied every part goes to plan.

“It’s all going to come down to the last 10/15 minutes of the quarter-final game, and it doesn’t matter if it’s New Zealand or France, it’s still going to be a monumental game and a game in which Ireland will have to produce one of their best, if not their best, performance of last couple of years.”

The former British and Irish Lion is in little doubt that Ireland will fare higher than its closest neighbours.

“I think of the three [British] teams, Scotland are the ones going in with the most form. They’re playing the best rugby. Obviously they’re in the toughest group, with South Africa and Ireland.

“England have been very, very poor over the last number of years, and they haven’t picked up any sort of form pre-tournament, but they still have some very world-class players in that group, and they could potentially turn it around, because they have the quality of players to do that.

“Wales, I’m undecided they’ve the standard of gamers, they usually do not have the shape inside them as a staff.

“We’ve spoken a lot about the [Warren] Gatland effect, and him coming back, but I don’t think we’ve seen it yet. They are on the easier side of the draw, so anything could happen on that side of the draw.”

The Rugby World Cup is a gruelling match, lasting seven weeks. It’s lastly time for this particular Ireland staff to navigate uncharted waters, and show they honestly deserve the sobriquet of greatest on the planet.