Not so quietly confident Irish rugby fans mingled with their Welsh counterparts in Dublin bars and hotels last night, in the punishing build-up to today's Six Nations Rugby match at Lansdowne Road.
Wales have won six of their last eight matches at Lansdowne Road, but with Ireland having scored successive victories this season over Scotland, Italy and France, Irish fans were confident of victory.
Adding to the atmosphere was the offer by the Carphone Warehouse company to award £1 million to "the first Irish player" who can score four tries against Wales today. The much talked-about offer seemed to have caught the imagination of fans yesterday - even if the odds against the money being collected are high. But it must be remembered that team captain Keith Wood scored four tries against the US in October and that Brian O'Driscoll scored three against France two weeks ago. O'Driscoll is seen as the player most likely to collect the cool £1 million.
City centre pubs, especially in the Temple Bar area, did a brisk trade from early morning yesterday. That can be expected to continue throughout today, with a late kick-off at 4 p.m., timed to facilitate live television coverage of both of this afternoon's scheduled Six Nations matches.
The IRFU is asking people with tickets to the Dublin game to come to Lansdowne Road early to watch the transmission of the France-Italy game on the big screen. Bars at the ground open at 2.30 p.m. Among the fans, enthusiasm will continue beyond today's fixture to tomorrow's encounter at Murrayfield between England and Scotland. Both Ireland and Wales were comprehensively beaten by England.