The Irish team are in line to earn a pretty penny if they win the World Cup

Optimism seems to have taken a bit of a dent after stuttering past Italy but Ireland have secured a place in the quarter-finals, which leaves them 240 minutes from global glory.

Beat France in Cardiff at the weekend and a route through to the final could be mapped out that does not involve the All Blacks and South Africa. There is no one booking an open top bus just yet obviously, but the IRFU do plan for the best possible outcome. Because winning the Rugby World Cup happens to be quite an expensive outcome. How expensive? According to the Irish Times the union would have to shell out €3.1million in player bonuses if Ireland get their hands on the Webb Ellis. For those of you unaccustomed to such large numbers that is €100,000 for each of Ireland's 31-man squad. Nice work if you can get it. And that is on top of the reported €30,000-€40,000 each player receives for making the final squad. To cover their costs in the event of such a gloriously massive payout the IRFU hedge their bets with Airton Risk, an offshoot of Paddy Power. That's to say, they take a punt on Joe Schmidt's side winning the World Cup. The €10million Ireland receive, as a Tier One nation, for participating in the RWC2015 is a €3m increase on 2011. So the IRFU are already winners.