2023-09-22 16:46:47
A shock, a real one. Two of the World Cup favorites, Ireland and South Africa, will face off at the Stade de France, Saturday September 23 (at 9 p.m., live on TF1). At stake is first place in Pool B. The loser should be France’s opponent in the quarter-final.
►Number 1 versus number 2
This summit match pits world number 1, Ireland, which dethroned France in July 2022 at first place in the ranking established by World Rugby, the international federation, against its runner-up, South Africa. Never before has a World Cup group match brought together the world No. 1 and No. 2.
This incongruity is explained by the precocity of the draw for this edition, carried out in December 2020. At the time, the Irish were fifth and were in pot 2, while the South Africans were first and in pot favorites.
For the same reasons, South Africa and Ireland must meet, in principle, France and New Zealand in the quarter-finals. To prevent such a scenario from happening again, World Rugby is considering proceeding later with the draw for the next World Cup.
►Two teams launched at full speed
Ireland, winner of the last Six Nations Tournament by achieving the Grand Slam, remains on 15 consecutive successes. The Irish have not experienced failure since a defeat against the French at the Stade de France, in February 2022. They rely on a perfectly oiled game, whose rhythm ends up exhausting all their opponents.
During its first two outings in this 2023 World Cup, Ireland crushed Romania (82-8), then dominated Tonga (59-16). But Ireland has never managed to get past the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
South Africa is the defending champion and three-time world champion. This summer, the South Africans impressed the oval planet by inflicting a record defeat on New Zealand (35-7) in a preparation match. They then dominated Scotland (18-3) then Romania (78-0) during this World Cup.
►Fifteen forwards for South Africa
The South African management made the rare choice of retaining seven forwards among the eight substitutes. Added to the eight who will start the game, that makes fifteen members of the pack on the match sheet. This strategy corresponds to the game deployed by the South Africans, based on physical power and direct confrontation.
The #Springboks team to face Ireland in Paris on Saturday – more here: ????#StrongerTogether#RWC2023pic.twitter.com/owoyetimBa
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 19, 2023
But the Springboks don’t just rely on brute force. Their wingers are particularly quick, including Cheslin Kolbe, who brought joy to Stade Toulouse from 2017 to 2021. Their only weakness is lacking a very high-level scorer, unlike Ireland.
►Jonathan Sexton, incomparable playing master
If Ireland remains on a series of 15 consecutive victories, it owes a lot to Jonathan Sexton, both an outstanding scorer and master of play. At 38, the fly-half broke the record for points scored by an Irishman at international level (1,090) held until then by his compatriot Ronan O’ during the match against Tonga on Saturday September 16. Gara (1,083).
An international since 2009, this Dublin native is also the real leader of his team, capable of making the right moves at the right time and sending passes that make the difference. Four times winner of the Six Nations Tournament with Ireland and four times winner of the European Cup with the province of Leinster, he is only missing one title: the World Cup.
►Jean Kleyn, the man who changed his jersey
The second row Jean Kleyn has the distinction of having worn the jerseys of both selections. South African by birth, he moved to Ireland in 2016 to pursue his professional career. In a sport where having spent three consecutive seasons in a country makes you selectable, this massive second row became an Irish international in 2019.
Jean Kleyn was thus able to compete in the World Cup that year with the cloverleaf team. Never recalled afterwards, he benefited from another rule – a player who has not been selected for at least 36 months can change selection – to play the 2023 World Cup with his native country, South Africa.
#clash #Ireland #South #Africa