Fantastic news. Arenāt we lucky to have posters so entwined with the higher echelons of Irish rugby that we get access to this sort of info earlier than the general masses.
That business trip to London has paid dividends already
Team is in and complete vindication for @Bandage as Hansen is named to start
Interesting that they went with McCarthy on the bench
Offers more ballast than Baird.
No Earls.
Weāre about to break the cycle guys
That is a serious serious statement of intent from Fazzer.
Despite my retirement ambitions, I closed a BIG BUSINESS DEAL this morning at 8.45am (Morton Stadium time) & it came up in the small talk afterwards. Naturally enough I canāt reveal my sources & will have veritable egg on my face if Hansen is a subsequent late withdrawal. Letās keep our collective eyes on the captainās run on Friday.
The rubby gods might have finally removed the ballast obstacles from our Quarter Final ambitions
Ireland 25-20 NZ
Beirne and Hendo both can play the hybrid role that Baird does ā¦McCarthy is a massive lump Iād say youād put on with bealham to support his scrummaging
Iād take that
Yeah - when you put it like that it makes sense. McCarthy still a bit raw for such a massive game but to be fair to Farrell he rarely gets these kind of calls wrong.
Christ - Iām giddy/nervous already and thereās 4 days to go. Biggest game ever for Irish rugby?
I think it is the biggest, get through this and then itās Wales or Argentina and a serious chance of making the final. 
Defo. An Irish team playing with such flair and belief in any sport is a rarity. To beat the traditional kingpins and banish the World Cup 1/4 final hoodoo would be absolutely massive .
Have ireland ever qualified for the quarter top of the group before?
Yep, in 2011.
2015 as well?
Yep
Itās a big game alrightā¦but in the pro era would we really be here if we hadnāt won the grand slam 09, Chicago, final NZ test etc .all massive wins that were building blocks to actually fancying our chances against the all blacks in a world cup qf ā¦so I donāt know about biggestā¦it fells like it now but maybe not