BBC Sport Online's John Mathews visits Dublin to see if there's been a successful conversion.

If promotion and marketing success can be measured in newspaper column inches, rugby league has failed to capture the imagination of Ireland.

That is only part of the story though.

While it is fair to say that certain sections of the Irish media have not latched on to the sport, it is equally true to state that the fans are starting to get the message.

Major triumph

Saturday night represented a major triumph for Irish rugby league as their team reached the World Cup quarter-finals.

However, one of the country's leading newspapers, the Sunday Tribune, failed to include a single word on the subject.

Acres of space was given over to English Premiership football - arguably the most popular sport in Ireland - but there was nothing at all to suggest that Irish sporting history is in the making.

Next Saturday Ireland will attempt to beat England and become the first Irish team ever to reach a World Cup semi-final in any sport.

Scornful suggestion

Part of the problem may stem from scornful suggestions that 'Ireland', like Scotland, are a team in name only.

It is true that many of the players are eligible through lineage rather that their own place of birth, but no-one questions the Irish players and their passion for the cause.

Not to their faces anyway.

Much the same was said at the beginning of Jack Charlton's reformation of Irish football but there were few critics popping their head above the parapet when they reached the last eight of the 1990 World Cup.

In fact, controversy over the Anglo-Irish players has only resurfaced in the past week with the Tony Cascarino saga... the footballer who claimed he did not fit the criteria to play for the Republic, despite winning 64 caps for the Irish.

Cascarino of course has a book to sell and he has done considerably better than rugby league when it comes to dominating the sports headlines in Ireland over the past few days.

Upbeat

But rugby league officials are upbeat about the progress they have made in the country.

Ireland's campaign kicked off with a 3,000-strong crowd in Belfast before 1,700 turned up to see them beat Scotland in Dublin.

Ask anyone who was there though and they will tell you it felt like Shelbourne's home ground had at least double that figure inside on the night.

The final match at the same Tolka Park venue drew in another 3,000 punters and while that figure may be comparitively small in terms of other Irish venues, there is no question that the fans who came contributed to a fabulous game and a marvellous atmosphere.

World Cup media boss John Huxley explained: "We've worked very hard in Ireland over the last six or seven years to establish a toe-hold and those crowds have been a massive boost to us.

Slipped backwards

"I admit we have slipped backwards in recent times.

"This World Cup has brought us back to where we were and we are delighted.

"We would love to see an Irish professional team in this decade but first we have to get the grass roots right, with a good player supply in Ireland.

"Our ambition is to turn the Irish team from being a collection of imports through birthright to where Irish-born players are filling up at least half of the positions, before they gradually take over their own side.

"We have still got some areas of the Irish media to break through in - there's no question about that.

"But we are lucky... we are going into Ireland as a completely clean sport and we have the ability to create something really new.

"I am disappointed when we don't get the coverage we deserve, but that's part of the battle.

"We've lost a few of those battles over the past 20 years, but the war looks like it's starting to go our way."