Ireland finally take flight after the rocky road to Australia

Whatever happens at the World Cup over the course of the next three weeks, no one can say it's been a smooth ride for the Republic of Ireland.

According to Vera Pauw, the journey to a first ever major tournament began in the bowels of the Obolon Arena, Kyiv, in the autumn of 2020. Ireland blew their chances of making it to the Euros that night, losing a game they had to win after Aine O'Gorman's freak own goal, and a Katie McCabe penalty miss, gifted the points to Ukraine.

A devastating blow, but it was the making of them.

Pauw extended her contract two months later and - fuelled by a desperate hunger to finally make the breakthrough - they clawed their way to Australia and New Zealand via the play-offs.

There may be some debate around the team's creativity, and the lack of a Plan B when they concede first. But there's no doubting their resilience.

This is a side - and a manager - that's queasily familiar with adversity.

A timeline of the last 12 months:

Every time Ireland earn a moment to savour, controversy seems to yank them back into a dark room. That pattern could well continue over the next few weeks with Pauw highly likely to face more awkward questions from the international media, and the manager's Ireland future still not nailed down.

We've stepped on to the rollercoaster, and though it's been a pretty intense two weeks around the Ireland camp, things are about to escalate.

Perhaps Kyra Carusa, the effervescent Californian set to lead the line against the Aussies, put it best after Thursday's 3-0 loss to France.

"We're professionals, that's what we're here for right?" she said. "And what a position to be in, I don't think anyone would ever stand here and say they weren't ready for that. That's what we live for, it's what