A new anthem - We must rise to Ireland’s Call for today

WE CAN ask no more of the Irish rugby team than they deliver optimum performance at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is upon us and we all hope they are at their very best in Stade de France this evening.

Irish victories in Paris are as scarce as vegetarian props in Argentina so, even if the team was not performing very badly and awash with destabilising rumour and innuendo, it would be a career high for most Irish internationals to beat their hosts in Paris. That it’s a do-or-die mission for France makes the challenge all the more daunting.

There have been suggestions that the Irish team’s performances have been undermined by being denied the inspiration of a call-to-arms rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann.