We are ready on the cusp of Irish sporting history and it will all come down to 80 minutes on the rugby pitch of the Stade de France in Paris.
The game is the biggest in Irish Rugby history and on a par with the World Cup Quarter Final at Italia’ 90 when the country came to a complete standstill only for Toto Schillaci to burst our bubble.
Living in the moment it is all about getting a win and advancing to a World Cup semi-final next Friday night against Wales or Argentina.
But sport is so important because it is always about more than the moment for the fans and the sport itself. It is always about the deep history, the what has gone before, and the what might be coming next.
Ireland have beaten New Zealand five of the last eight times they have played them, having taken 111 years to record their first victory, in the Men’s game at least, in Chicago in 2016.
It has never happened at a World Cup Finals though, where New Zealand have won the tournament three times and Ireland have never won a knockout game.
And there is more to this occasion in historic terms. Ireland are on a 17 match unbeaten run at test match level. The longest streak in rugby history is 18, jointly held by England and New Zealand, both of which runs came to a halt against, yes of course, against Ireland.
In New Zealand they expect to win and defeat tomorrow night will be treated as a national disaster. We are not thinking of defeat at all.
This tournament has been Ireland’s best ever and also the best ever for the fans.
60 flights leaving ireland for Paris this weekend only tells the half of it. There are those who have been there already for a month, there are thousands travelling via london and taking the train or the boat to get to Paris. The longest we have heard of so far is the flight to madrid and then the train North.
Some are travelling with tickets in hand, many without, hoping to find one, as so often happens, or else just content to be there soaking up the atmosphere and telling tales when they return.
International media from the New York Times to the Financial Times have been mesmerised by the capacity for Irish fans to enjoy themselves and to sing songs where the emotion is the thing over the meaning behind the lyrics.
The Sun in England prefers to talk of bad behaviour and public urination but some things never change in the world of the tabloids.
The TV audience on saturday night will be the largest of the year, perhaps the largest of any year, and this may not yet be done. The players are speaking of this being only the start of the tournament.
There are eight teams left and we are the ones that have beaten all the others on our most recent run.
The commercial backers from Vodafone and Bank of Ireland to Guinness and Energia are all in for the long term but this weekend it is about shorter timelines, ones of 80 minutes. It will be something to behold.
