Ireland captain Erin King says the prospect of becoming "history-makers" is a huge motivator ahead of tomorrow's crucial Guinness Women’s Six Nations meeting with France in Clermont-Ferrand (8.10pm Irish time).
More than 15,000 tickets have been sold for the iconic Stade Marcel-Michelin, home of Clermont Auvergne, for tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final rematch, with organisers confident sales could creep up closer to the 19,357 capacity.
It’s nine years since Ireland last won against France in the Six Nations, while they have never defeated Les Bleues away from home.
And King believes she and her team-mates have what it takes to end that run tomorrow night.
"I think it would mean everything to us," the Ireland captain (below) told RTÉ Sport.
"We've spoken a lot about breaking into the top four of the world and breaking into that top two of Six Nations, and it's definitely a goal that we've set out and that we've spoken about."
The evidence is there that Ireland have closed the gap since their last visit to France, a 38-17 defeat in Le Mans in 2024.
Last year in Belfast, two late France scores saw them win by 12 points in Belfast, while Ireland led 13-0 when these sides met at the World Cup in September, eventually losing 18-13.
"We have come so close with the likes of France before, I think we know that it is an achievable goal, and I think if we do get our detail right and our physicality right and our fast start right, I do think we have what it takes," King added.
"The capability in the squad is just immense, and the players and the talent and even our culture, it's all going in the right direction.
"I'm really excited, and I think the team's really excited, but we've never done it before, we've never beaten France away in a Six Nations, so it's not an easy feat, but we’re just looking forward to it.
"It's such a great opportunity for all of us. We're so lucky to take the pitch and have the opportunity to become history-makers in that sense."
King didn't feature when these sides met in the World Cup due to a knee injury, but the back row did suggest "revenge" would be a big factor in tomorrow night's rematch, when she was speaking after last week's win against Italy.
And the 22-year-old added this afternoon that while they treat all opponents equally, they treat some more equally than others.
She said: "A lot of people have obviously talked this game up and talked about it being a revenge game, but I think for us, obviously you have that little bit of extra motivation.
"At the end of the day, we treat every game the same, and our prep going into each and every game is the same.
"We prep no different from one team to the next, no matter how we've played them, when we've played them, and what the history is between the two teams. We focus on ourselves, and that's the priority, and then they come.
"I do think there probably is that little bit of extra motivation, just with the history that we have with the team, and coming so close with them in the past two occasions, I think left a bit of a bittersweet taste in our mouth."
France haven’t lost a Six Nations game to a team other than England since 2019, and while they have a new head coach this year in former Canada boss Francois Ratier, they have started with two relatively comfortable wins against Italy and Wales.
And King says Ireland will have to draw on all of their recent experiences to deal not just with the action on the pitch, but the occasion around it.
"Everyone talks about it; the crowd, the drums, everything, but it's a challenge that we really are looking forward to, and we've got a lot of confidence in our team," said the Australia-born back row.
"We are going in a good trajectory, hopefully upwards, and I think our team have matured a lot over the last 12 months, and we've learned a lot, and we've become a really close-knit group, and we've had obviously longer with the coach and staff and things like that.
"I think we've had loads of new experiences, playing in bigger stadiums, playing with more crowds, and we kind of turned that anxiousness maybe into energy, and we're better at living off that energy."
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