STATS: More proof that the Irish are the greatest rugby fans in the world

Jamie Heaslip was the latest Irish player to pay tribute to the green hordes after they made the Millennium Stadium sound like Dublin 4 yesterday afternoon.

And the latest attendance figures from the Rugby World Cup back up the belief that Ireland supporters are travelling in droves to back their heroes, with more than 280,000 fans showing up for Ireland's pool matches against Canada, Romania, Italy and France. That trails only tournament hosts England and pseudo-hosts Wales, who played two of their games in Cardiff and the others at Twickenham. Yes, the Irish did also line out at the Millennium Stadium (twice), Wembley and the Olympic Stadium, but if the noise at those arenas is anything to go by it was the travelling green hordes who filled the vast majority of those seats. https://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/653303038350913536/photo/1 Tournament organisers will be thrilled with the overall figures, with more than 95 per cent of seats filled for the 40 matches of the pool stages.