Ireland's impressive World Cup support could become the crucial weapon in their bid for a concerted assault on the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Ten thousand vocal Irish fans are expected at Aussie Stadium tomorrow evening as Eddie O'Sullivan's men look to extend their 100% Pool A record against Namibia.
While O'Sullivan would expect his team to emerge victorious against the African minnows even if they were playing in an empty stadium, he knows such a groundswell of support may well prove vital in the key confrontations with Argentina and Australia that are still to come.
"I don't think it is any coincidence that even a few years ago when our overall performances weren't that good, we always used to play well at Lansdowne Road," he said. "We live for that raucous, vocal support that gets the blood curdling. It can provide a platform for the team to tear into the opposition like mad dogs in a meat house.
"You don't expect that in away matches, but we had an amazing experience when we played New Zealand in Dunedin last year. Ten minutes into the second half a cry of `Ireland' went right round the ground. I could hardly believe it.
"It made a massive difference to the team's performance and though the All Blacks went on to win in the end, it got us through a really difficult period. You can be guaranteed we will get that support here as well and you never know what that might mean in the end."