OPINION
Gregor Paul in Paris
No one really knows the full weight of history until they find it bearing down upon them.
They think it will sit on their shoulders with the light touch of an angel, which is why Ireland, who have been so composed and so assured at this World Cup, and indeed for the past 18 months, are confident there will be no ghosts from their past, present or future haunting them this Sunday in Paris.
They believe they will take their chance to make history – rather than be crushed by the weight of expectation – and beat the All Blacks, advance into the semifinal for the first time and equal the world record of 18 consecutive test victories.
If they get themselves that far, they will have a chance to make yet more history and win their first World Cup, and a golden generation of players will have their crowning moment. The likes of Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray will likely shuffle off into retirement the most content men in the whole of Ireland.
And Ireland have every reason to be confident. The last time they lost a test was in July last year in Auckland, and since then they have done nothing but make history.
They bounced back to win the series against the All Blacks, and then earlier this year, they held off a relentless France which enabled them to collect a Grand Slam.
They keep playing, they keep winning, and so why would they not be confident about beating a team ranked three places below them?
It’s not like these are the old days of the All Blacks being the beast Ireland could never slay – they have beaten them four times in their past six encounters, and New Zealand is not brimming with the sort of characters who keep other international teams awake at night.
But, of course, the All Blacks used to see things through much the same lens as the Irish now do.
Back in those naïve years between 1988 and 2010, the All Blacks didn’t comprehend the magnitude of World Cups and the destructive power of opportunity when it is not fully understood.
They would be imperious throughout the cycle, win plenty of big games and think they were ready to make history when it came to the World Cup.
But they never could, because the burden of history is always heavier than those asked to carry it believe it is going to be – and again and again, the All Blacks collapsed under the weight of it.
The pain was unbearable at times: the certainty that everything would come right, only for a new failing to be exposed, and 24 years elapsed until in 2011, Richie McCaw, on one good leg, used his indefatigable spirit to somehow chase the demons away and get his team over the line at Eden Park.
No one really knows what enabled the All Blacks to finally cope with the pressure of the biggest occasion.
It was perhaps the home advantage, or maybe because they had a kind referee in the final. Maybe it was the whole red-head, blue-head philosophy, or the fact they just had so many good players.
It was probably all of those things. What matters is that the All Blacks now realise they had previously failed to understand what they would be facing in those big, big World Cup moments – when the chance was there to make history.
And maybe this is the greatest – perhaps the only – advantage the All Blacks take into their quarter-final encounter: they know what it takes to make World Cup history, unlike Ireland, who at this point only think they know how.
Speaking with the media on Tuesday, All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan gave a little insight into the importance the coaching team has attached to understanding history and opportunity.
“The All Blacks jersey means a lot to us,” he said. “We have talked a lot in the last few months about the legacy of the black jersey and what it means.”
“Someone like Sean Fitzpatrick - he probably set the All Blacks jersey and the legacy alight with what he did. Are we scared of failure? No. Do we embrace the legacy and what we want to achieve? Yes. We get excited by that, and we walk towards it.”
There are seven players (and one coach) in the All Blacks’ likely match-day 23 who have successfully walked towards a World Cup opportunity before and taken it.
It’s a big, big thing, knowing how to do that.
All Blacks v Ireland
8am, Sunday.
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