Tom Tierney channelled his inner Jack Charlton ahead of the World Cup showdown with France as he called on Ireland to "put 'em under pressure" and dig out the win they need to make the semi-finals.
Both teams won their first two Pool C games but the swashbuckling French have been far more convincing, racking up 120 points in victories against Japan and Australia with the host nation having to go to the well to see off both.
Last February's Six Nations win in Donnybrook gives Ireland reason to believe they can halt the Les Bleus juggernaut though, and Tierney is calling for an in-your-face approach to throw them off their stride.
"We got the wake-up calls we needed in the first two games... now we just build it up as a cup final," the head coach said, who named his starting team earlier today.
"We've a plan in place where hopefully we can [enjoy] a bit of territory, put them under pressure and take them"
"We're really focused on playing a game that's hopefully going to put a lot of pressure on the French.
"We're under no illusions that if we let them play we're going to be under pressure but we've a plan in place where hopefully we can [enjoy] a bit of territory, put them under pressure and take them.
"We got through two very tough games with the Australians and the Japanese building into basically a winner-takes-all match against France tomorrow night.
"There's great excitement, great focus in the squad and we're really looking forward to Thursday. It's the one we've been building for and hopefully we can put in a good performance."
Only four players have played every minute of the first two games and Tierney is confident his side is fresh and full of energy despite facing into their third meeting in eight days.
"The girls are in great shape," he said. "We've broken the tournament into three phases. We made it hard for ourselves in the first two games but we've been building towards this game.
"The girls can't wait now. Mentally and physically they are raring to go."
Another packed Belfield Bowl will look to give the Irish a crucial edge in what looks a daunting challenge.
Tierney has repeatedly labeleed this clash a "cup final" and he did so again as he geared up for a bruising, unforgiving test of mettle.
"The matches down through the years against France have always been close," he said.
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"It's going to be a physical game. If we can get the first ten, 15 minutes under our belts and get ourselevs into the game we'll be in a good place.
"The French are in flying form, arguably the team so far of the tournament. The last few games we've played against them, they've all been tight affairs.
"We expect nothing different tomorrow night, as long as get ourselves organised, play in the right areas of the field, there's a physicality to our game and there's a real purpose to our game with us playing real quality, cup final rugby.
"We know the support is going to be there. We just have to hold up our side of the bargain."
Ireland (v France): 15 Hannah Tyrrell, 14 Eimear Considine, 13 Jenny Murphy, 12 Sene Naoupu, 11 Alison Miller, 10 Nora Stapleton, 9 Nicole Cronin; 1 Lindsay Peat, 2 Leah Lyons, 3 Ailis Egan, 4 Sophie Spence, 5 Marie-Louise Reilly, 6 Ciara Griffin, 7 Claire Molloy (Capt), 8 Paula Fitzpatrick
Reps: 16 Cliodhna Moloney, 17 Ruth O'Reilly, 18 Ciara O'Connor, 19. Ashleigh Baxter, 20 Heather O'Brien, 21 Larissa Muldoon, 22 Katie Fitzhenry, 23 Louise Galvin
Watch Ireland v France live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player (ROI only) from 7pm, listen live on RTÉ 2fm and follow live blogs on RTÉ Sport Online and the News Now app
