Andy Farrell concedes that Ireland has suffered from an inferiority complex in the past but believes his team is ready to embrace the challenge of being the best in the world.
The top-ranked Irish will face a major challenge to that ambition in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals when they take on three-time world champion New Zealand, long the benchmark for test rugby teams, on Saturday.
Ireland came into the 2019 World Cup ranked No. 1 in the world but was hammered 46-14 by the All Blacks in the quarterfinals to retain an unenviable record of never having won a knockout game at the global tournament.