2023-09-24 00:21:12
A match that will leave you breathless with this wild fight. A meeting without splendid flights to greet with admiring applause, but to squint at these thirty players obsessed with each ball as if nothing else mattered in a Stade de France transformed into a grassy ring. A fight in a sometimes deafening atmosphere, with an intensity still unequaled in this World Cup. And at the end of this South Africa-Ireland: an Irish winner, on points and by knockout And a defeated South African, tormented colossus and potential opponent of the Blues in the quarter-final in three weeks.
This most enticing clash of the group stage, between the club leader in the world rankings and his runner-up from the Southern Hemisphere, kept all its promises. Finally, if by promises we mean these 80 minutes or so to make rugby deserve its designation as a combat sport. The Springboks did what was expected of them: play the hounds, physically mark the opponent, and hit everyone who presented themselves with a green jersey.
Ireland responded with what made it an undefeated team since July 2022 and a team rewarded with a Grand Slam in March: unfolding a settled score between players who know each other by heart, quickly correcting its mistakes including this festival of clumsy touches to start the game, and a troop who puts their hand where ordinary mortals, and even more, would look away.
South Africa drops too many points
It’s a beautiful machine, and the numerous mistakes scratched by the XV of Clover have heated, sometimes to incandescence, thousands and thousands of chests who came to push their men to Saint-Denis. Peak decibels guaranteed on Mack Hansen’s try (33rd), coming to reward a team dedicated to trying to bring this ball to life in the middle of the chaos.
The reigning world champions responded with their strength, and their muscular forwards came to renew the pack just before a scrum. A first to win everything, and a second to send Cheslin Kolbe to the test (50th). But muscles have their limits when the scorers don’t keep up. The Springboks left eleven points on the road in the second half alone, where the Irish went back in front with three points from their eternal Johnny Sexton.
In the stands, the scorer of the 2019 coronation Handre Pollard, who came to strengthen the South African group on Sunday, must have had an itchy foot. South Africa should again come out second in their group, four years after having done the same in Japan, provided that Ireland does not fail against Scotland in two weeks. A scenario which would force the Blues to come up against these Springboks again in their first knockout match, less than a year after a dominated test match at the end of a grueling game. The opposition has not changed. And even dominated on Saturday, she still has something to impress.
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