Ireland braced for 'toughest game we've ever faced'

Ireland are bracing for the "toughest game we've ever faced" as time ticks down to Sunday morning's headline quarter-final between the World No.1 side and the All Blacks at this year's Rugby World Cup.

Ireland have named an unchanged squad for Sunday morning's Parisian blockbuster as they chase their first ever trip to the semi-finals of the tournament.

They're certainly favourites to do so, entering the contest on a 17-Test winning streak which in itself features two wins over the All Blacks.

But despite the favourable odds, Ireland captain Johnny Sexton said this morning the side know what's coming.

"I’ve had some great battles with New Zealand over the years with Ireland and the (British and Irish) Lions and what you learn is that every game is as tough as the last, no matter what the result," Sexton said.

"And that’s what we’re preparing for: the toughest game we’ve ever faced and we’re trying to put ourselves in the frame of mind that we’re going to be ready for it."

That message seems to have trickled down from the top with coach Andy Farrell set on establishing the right tone heading into the contest.

“We were in the same mood last week [against Scotland]," Farrell said.

"It’s big-boy stuff, isn’t it? We’re at the business end of the competition. When you get to this point in the competition, you hopefully draw on the good experiences you have had and put ourselves under over the last few years for moments like this.

"We have got a very experienced group who have been through a lot.”

That experience includes 10 of the 23 players who felt the sting of the All Blacks at the last World Cup, going down 46-14 - their biggest-ever defeat at a World Cup.

There had been plenty of hope Ireland would finally break their quarter-finals curse in Tokyo having now never passed that stage of the tournament in seven attempts.

Sexton said this morning there were no thoughts about a semi-final though.

“We’ve worked on our mental game for the last four years,” he said.

“We’ve put ourselves in different scenarios over the last four years to prepare for this.

“But each quarter-final that we haven’t got through, or when we haven’t got through our pool, they’ve all been different and it’s a different group again."

On a personal level though, it would be another historic achievement for the 38-year-old in his decorated career.

“Trying to win a World Cup, it’s something to go and get, it’s not something that puts pressure on me.

“It’s something you dream of, probably not as a kid because when we were kids we didn’t dream of Ireland winning the World Cup.

“I suppose we’ve put ourselves in a position now to go and do that.

“But it’s something to go and get, it’s not something to be pressured about.

“It’s all geared up towards a massive game on Saturday, a massive challenge for this team, the biggest we’ve faced, and we’re looking forward to it.”