This time it can be different. This time they can go further.
Jamie Heaslip was keyed in from the moment he took his seat to face the press, this afternoon.
Having missed the World Cup cut in 2007 and played in the last edition of the competition, in 2011, only to deal with elimination at the quarters, Heaslip knows hurt on a grand scale.
This time out – starting with Canada on Saturday – it is time to turn some heads.
“I’ve been since 2005 and there’s a lot of work put in there,” he said. “That’s a lot of rugby. These kinds of opportunities don’t come around that often.”
Heaslip bristled slightly at the concept that Ireland can finally deliver on their potential in this tournament.
“All we want to do, as players as individuals, is our job.
“As a team player, you just want to make your team-mate look good. You want to make his job easier. You want to make it so he doesn’t have to worry about you. That he knows that you’re going to be there and you’re going to do your job.
“The knock-on effect leads to good job roles, good processes and hopefully you get the outcome you get but if you do all that, sometimes you don’t but at least you can hang the jersey up and know you’ve done it proud for a day.”
The 31-year-old reflected on the opportunity lost in the 2011 quarter-final against Wales. A Win would have set up a semi-final against France and a potential final tilt with the All Blacks.
“In terms of the pressures of a World Cup,” Heaslip began, “well I was asked earlier regarding New Zealand what it was like; this is probably a little bit different in terms of the fact that we had a travelling cavalcade of I don’t know how many thousands of Irish turning up in every town that we were in, taking over the place.
“At times, the support was overwhelming.
“They were around everywhere and it meant we were massively confident going into games.
“Here, it’s probably not as on the whole time, the fact that we’re moving to big cities like London and Cardiff and that side the guys who haven’t been to World Cups haven’t felt, but in terms of realising the importance of each game I think a lot of lads have experience at European [club rugby] level.”
Whether it is open or closed, the roof question always crops up in Cardiff.
“I really like [the roof being closed],” Heaslip insisted, “it adds to the atmosphere. It gets really, really loud.
“I’ve had some really, really great days out there and some pretty low days. Hopefully we’re going to get the outcome we want.”
It’s almost go time.
