A SURE sign of mounting pressure is when rugby coaches resort to stock phrases like “no game is easy at this level”. Sports psychologists are paid handsomely on the assumption that rugby is a mental game. Indeed it is truly nuts, but I could have told them that for nothing.

It seems to have become acceptable, nay welcome to use clichés in a sporting context if you first acknowledge you are about to utter one, ie: “I know its a cliché, but . . .” and subsequently, magically, any cliché you can get your hands on appears to be studied with weighted gravitas.

However, given the size of the prize on offer for Ireland in this riveting World Cup, you can’t really look beyond the old football favourite “take each game as it comes” to sum up the required mindset over the coming days. As much for us, the spectator, as the coaches, players and back room staff at the helm of this Irish campaign.

The players will no doubt cope admirably with not counting their chickens against Italy on Sunday, but for the rest of us it’s probably a case of not being able to help ourselves in sneaking a peak at the final foul count, as it were. Yikes, I’ve done it now, I’ve done the naughty thing, I am incapable of taking one game at a time.

All the same if we beat them we only have to beat Wales and we’ll be in . . . stop, just concentrate on beating Italy.

Okay just Italy, who we’ve beaten the last 15 times we’ve played them, so we have a great chance of . . . stop!

I can’t help it, we only have to beat Italy, Wales and England or France and we’re in the final of the World Cup against NEW ZEALAND!

There I’ve said it now, oh the lord have mercy on us! I hope Father Deccie isn’t reading this or he’ll never speak to me again.

Mind you, he doesn’t really converse with anyone in the media circus of a World Cup, it’s more of an overview of life and its ups and downs, or perhaps you could call it a sermon.

One shouldn’t underestimate the delicate balance required for coaches using clichés or well known phrases, and some of them have come a cropper even when the pressure is off.

One such unforced error was incurred by – wouldn’t you know it – South Africa’s Peter de Villiers after the Springboks romped home against Fiji, when he observed: “The weather is so unpredictable in New Zealand that it’s not unusual to get all five seasons in one day”. Well I’d call that pretty unusual, but as we’ve already mentioned rugby is a mental game.

Of course our own Father Deccie isn’t the only coach who is economical with words. Kiwi coach Graham Henry is equally suspicious of elaboration and also manages to conduct every interview with the expression of a man smelling cheese. Not easy to scowl when your team are blasting all opposition asunder.

While Australia’s equivalent Robbie Deans appeared to be so shocked and devastated after Ireland put manners on his team, he conducted his post match interview looking like a cross between Norman Bates and Chris de Burgh. Maybe that’s how you end up if you’re a Kiwi and you coach Australia. It’s just not meant to be.

The atmosphere for Ireland’s biggest game in donkey’s years has truly taken off, but the mind games from Italy’s coach Nick (hammer head) Mallet, with his “we’re better than you, so there” are hardly likely to ruffle the feathers of Father Deccie’s proud plumage. Even if it’s a little odd that the game is to be refereed by Jonathan Kaplan, Mallet’s fellow countryman.

The Irish camp tell us they are treating this like a cup final, and even though many among them are expert exponents at digging deep and squeezing home in the tightest of corners, they might well benefit from reminding themselves of the the sage-like wisdom of a great BBC Northern Ireland commentator of yore who once announced with great fervour: “Ulster go into this semi- final knowing they need to win this game if they want to reach the final.”

The achievement of Ireland in beating Australia and the celebrations thereafter brought us back to the heady days of Italia ’90 and we don’t need reminding (or maybe we do) what team put an end to our party when Signor Schillaci poked home and the whole of Ireland’s chin dropped. What better way to exact revenge than by sticking it to the Azurri on Sunday?

And if the sports psychologists describing this as a mental game mean that the team who can control what resides in their minds best shall prevail, then given what has come out of Mallet’s noggin recently, Ireland should be quids in.

By the way if you’ll allow a moment’s indulgence, I would like to take some credit for Ireland’s good World Cup form to date. The first time I went on a Lions tour in 2005 we, eh lost, the last time I went on a Lions tour in 2009 it didn’t quite work out. The last time I went to the World Cup in 2007, eh let’s not go there. This time I remained in the nest. I think I’ll stay put from now on.

Forza Irlanda!

Risteárd Cooper’s latest offbeat look at all things World Cup can be viewed this morning at www.irishtimes.com/rwc