Irish to avoid repeat of 2007 debacle
Now after two successive defeats coach Joe Schmidt admits things are a lot less rosy.
Indeed Schmidt, perhaps for the first time during his two year tenure which has reaped two Six Nations titles and 15 wins in their last 17 matches, is facing the challenge of having to restore some battered confidence and prevent seeds of doubt spreading through the squad such as was the case in the talented 2007 team.
A narrow defeat to bogey side Wales – who they had beaten the game before – could be excused but the nature of their lacklustre performance against England last Saturday set some alarm bells ringing, former Ireland great Shane Horgan describing the first-half display as the worst he'd seen under 49-year-old Schmidt.
The New Zealander shrugged that remark aside but concedes there is work to be done as they approach their first game with Canada in Cardiff on September 19 – though he can be thankful that their opponents aren't the other established nations in their pool, Italy and France.
"If you cruise into the World Cup on the back of three or four wins and feeling that the world is rosy, there is a danger in that as well," said Schmidt.
"I don't think there's too much risk of us feeling the world is too rosy. We know we've got to roll our sleeves up and keep working really hard."
Iconic Irish skipper Paul O'Connell knows from bitter memory that over confidence can breed catastrophic consequences: in 2007 Ireland arrived on the back of a Triple Crown success under Eddie O'Sullivan but exited in the first round, with the lowest point going perilously close to losing to minnows Georgia.
"I recall what went down in 2007 and how bad that felt," said O'Connell.
"We are not going to repeat the mistakes of that campaign this time round."
O'Connell's bitter experience from that debacle will come in handy in hammering home the point of not taking any opponent lightly.
However, while things may not be as rosy as they were, the Irish have generally been transformed into a hardened battle unit eschewing the old tag of 'gallant losers' to pragmatic winners and are something of a bogey team for France coach Philippe Saint-Andre who has yet to beat them in four matches (two draws and two defeats).
O'Connell has played a huge role in that process but the likes of other world class operators such as the halfback partnership of Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray, fearless fullback Rob Kearney, who worryingly is struggling for full fitness, and No.8 Jamie Heaslip will not shirk their decision making responsibilities and in ensuring calm heads prevail.
Ireland's fortunes will revolve not just round that but also very much on Sexton's form – he has been known to lose his metronomic kicking accuracy when the pressure is on – and also remaining concussion free, something which resulted in him being stood down for several months last year.
Outstanding flank Peter O'Mahony – who is also another prone to concussion – believes the Irish are on the right track and the rough edges will be smoothed out by the time they meet the Canadians. 
"We’ve had a big 18 months and it’s something we will take a lot of confidence from," said O’Mahony in the aftermath of the England defeat.
"We are certainly building nicely what we want to build. We have a huge amount to work on but we have two weeks now to get it right, rest the bodies, get back to the drawing board."
Agence France-Presse
