![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/sport\/sport-135x135.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell believes in-form World Cup hopefuls Ireland were previously plagued by an \u201cinferiority complex\u201d.<\/p>\n
Test rugby\u2019s top-ranked nation will bid to make history against New Zealand in Paris on Saturday evening by becoming the first Irish team to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.<\/p>\n
Head coach Farrell was assistant to Joe Schmidt when Ireland went into the 2019 tournament as the sport\u2019s number one country only to suffer a humiliating last-eight stuffing at the hands of the formidable All Blacks.<\/p>\n
The Englishman, who has masterminded 17 successive wins, feels Ireland are becoming better at handling the pressure of having a target on their back and must continue to do so in order to emulate the sustained success of the Kiwis.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CyK9yTnsjhq<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose an inferiority complex is what\u2019s happened in the past as far as getting to world number one and thinking that we\u2019re going to fall off a cliff because this shouldn\u2019t be happening to Ireland,\u201d said Farrell.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what we\u2019ve learnt to do is throw ourselves into big challenges and try to meet them head on and embrace that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be second best, we want to be first best. But we also realise what comes with that, that people are always chasing you hard down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve seen with the All Blacks over the last 20 years \u2013 that\u2019s why they\u2019re so respected because it\u2019s very hard to stay at the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys that are the favourites are the ones I\u2019ve always looked at throughout my career and envied really because of how hard it is to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the place we want to be because if you\u2019re serious about getting better and being the team that you want to be, that\u2019s the world that you\u2019ve got to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n
While New Zealand are three-time world champions, Ireland have repeatedly fallen at the quarter-final hurdle.<\/p>\n
The Six Nations champions were full of optimism going into the same stage four years ago before crashing out 46-14 to the All Blacks in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Farrell has committed time and effort to improving the mental resilience of his players and says they must remember Ireland are a \u201cbloody good team\u201d if they suffer performance anxiety this weekend at Stade de France.<\/p>\n
We don’t want to be second best, we want to be first best. But we also realise what comes with that, that people are always chasing you hard down<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s another big game in front of us,\u201d said the 48-year-old, who led his side to a historic tour success in New Zealand last summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage, it\u2019s all about preparation and recovery and making sure there\u2019s an ownership of the plan that you\u2019re going to try and apply on the opposition at the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe immerse ourselves with that and that\u2019s the only way it should be. Of course things start to creep in, but we\u2019ve tools and experience to combat all that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main part is to remember that we\u2019re a bloody good team that play together and, when we do that, you\u2019re not on your own, so you can get away from those type of thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n