Prop Andrew Porter insists every member of Andy Farrell’s 33-man squad believes Ireland can win the World Cup.
Rugby’s top-ranked nation are among the favourites for glory in France but have never won a knockout match at the tournament following a string of disappointing last-eight exits.
The Six Nations champions launched their campaign by dispatching Pool B minnows Romania 82-8 and on Saturday face Tonga in Nantes before pivotal Paris showdowns with title holders South Africa and Scotland.
Porter believes Ireland’s current crop of players have no qualms about previous failures or the quarter-final “curse”.
“I don’t think this squad does,” said the 27-year-old, who was part of the team eliminated 46-14 by New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“We all have the belief that we can go and win. I don’t think anyone is too bothered with what’s happened in the past.
“Obviously there’s lads that have been in three World Cups and four World Cups, and it’s incredible to have their experience in the squad.
![Ireland suffered quarter-final disappointment against New Zealand in Japan four years ago](http://image.assets.pressassociation.io/v2/image/production/267481ac33e5e8f1ed2a38e384f0cc7cY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NjI4NjMy/2.47601631.jpg?w=640)
“But there’s not one player in the squad who doesn’t believe we can go and do this.
“I don’t think there is really any hang-ups about whatever you call it, ‘the curse’.”
Ireland face a major challenge to snap their unwanted World Cup record as they are likely to face a quarter-final clash with formidable hosts France or the All Blacks.
Farrell’s men must first secure progression from arguably the competition’s toughest group.
Point sur le classement des poules après ce premier week-end du tournoi 🔎—Let's take a look at pool rankings following the tournament's first weekend 🔎#RWC2023 #rugby pic.twitter.com/gDq17ikf7E
— Rugby World Cup France 2023 (@France2023) September 11, 2023
Ireland performance coach Gary Keegan, who works with players and management on mental preparation, believes head coach Farrell is “100 per cent convinced” of breaking new ground.
“It takes a leader who has the confidence in himself to want to break the mould and to want to reach for the stars,” said Keegan.
“Because if he’s not convinced that it can be achieved, it’s very hard to convince everybody else that it can be achieved.
“He’s 100 per cent convinced. That doesn’t mean there’s any guarantees in terms of where you end up.
![Ireland boss Andy Farrell, pictured, recruited performance coach Gary Keegan to help his players deal with the mental challenges of rugby](http://image.assets.pressassociation.io/v2/image/production/3325e5a6e3e6fdd5a305d40094f37374Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NjI4Mzk4/2.73661752.jpg?w=640)
“It’s about how we respond to difficulties as we face them. We’re not expecting the paths to be clear or easy. It’s not meant to be because it wouldn’t be worthwhile if it was.
“I think the group has always had that potential, there’s a lot of talent . One of the big changes is the empowerment that Andy provides to those players.
“There’s a very significant buy in to what we’re trying to achieve and a belief in how we’re trying to achieve it.”
Leinster player Porter shed around four kilograms and had a face “like a strawberry” during Saturday’s sweltering curtain-raiser in Bordeaux.
It was our privilege to visit Clocheville Children’s Hospital in our base city of Tours! 💚
A huge thanks to the children, their parents and the staff for such a warm welcome.#TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/3Mz9j8BJ35
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 12, 2023
In addition to recovering from that gruelling experience, he and team-mates Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy took time out from training to visit Clocheville Children’s Hospital in Ireland’s base city of Tours.
Porter, who aged 12 lost his mother Wendy to breast cancer and is involved with the Irish Cancer Society, found the experience “incredibly humbling”.
“It’s obviously a charity that’s close to my heart,” he said.
“It was a hospital for children with cancer, so it was incredibly humbling seeing how brave those kids were, and just kind of being able to brighten their day.
Amazing Rugby World Cup memories for us all! 🫶#TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/nKF8G3xEDy
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 12, 2023
“It meant a lot to myself, and I’m sure the other players who were there as well.
“It’s obviously something I dealt with a lot when I was younger and didn’t have a lot of knowledge about it at the time.
“But, given my status, it’s incredibly important to use that status to benefit others and that’s what I’m going to try and do.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here