Ireland v New Zealand: ‘High stakes for familiar foes in unmissable quarter-final’

For a few moments, right at the end of Ireland’s final media engagement before Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand, Caelan Doris spoke from the heart.

Doris and Dan Sheehan had been asked what it means to them and their families to be preparing for the biggest game in www.ngilngof.com of their lives.

As Sheehan spoke of his pride in bringing joy to the Irish people back home, the significance of what this Ireland team may achieve seemed to hit home with Doris.

“I think in these big weeks, you draw on some of the emotion and the pride,” said Ireland’s ironman Doris, who has been involved in every match they have played this year.

“Talking to a few friends back home in Mayo and seeing how they are behind us and how so many people in the country are behind us.

“You can feel that over here, you can definitely get a sense of it. That is a motivation for us, to continue to inspire them and do them proud and knowing that so many of them are coming over.

“Sometimes you can almost get too emotional but then you bring yourself back into process-focused, detail-focused, going through how we’re going to get to the next step. It’s a balance of both in these big weeks.”

Number eight Doris’ walkthrough was a clear insight into Irish minds on the eve of the biggest match of their lives.

There is no getting around it – this is a massive chapter in the Irish journey. The players appreciate, but are not burdened by, the magnitude of the occasion as they seek to make it past the last eight at the World Cup for the first time ever.

They want to create more special memories for the fans who have lifted this team in times of defeat down the years and who have roared them on every step of the way of this historic journey.

The players feel it now. They felt it last week when Zombie, their viral-friendly adopted anthem by Limerick rock band The Cranberries, again filled the Stade de France. They will feel it even more intensely at the same venue on Saturday night when they emerge from the tunnel to be greeted by another sea of green.