South Africa 8
Ireland 13
AMID ALL THE fury, the pressure, the deafening noise of Stade de France, the violence of the physicality, the see-sawing of momentum, with their lineout in chaos at times, amid the nail-biting tension of it all, Ireland found a way. It’s their calling card these days.
There is no trophy handed out tonight. This is but a pool game, but it feels like a much more momentous victory than that. Ireland had to fight in every split second. Time and time again, they had to cling on. There were too many defensive moments of sheer grit to count. Too many instances of sheer effort to tally.
But Andy Farrell’s men found a way. They were calm and clinical in one key first-half moment to send wing Mack Hansen over for a brilliant try. And they were composed even when it felt like the Boks might march right through them when Rassie Erasmus’ side got on top. Ireland always had huge defensive plays up their sleeves.
Roared on by a genuinely remarkable Irish crowd estimated at over 30,000 in the rocking Stade de France, Farrell’s side made a big statement of their credentials to win this World Cup by downing the reigning champions.
Make no mistake, this was a battle of two giants of the game. The level of this contest was higher than anything else we’ve seen in this World Cup. And Ireland were the better team.
Indeed, they could justifiably feel that this win should have been a hint more comfortable had their lineout delivered more than a 66% return, with some major wobbles in the first half in particular.
But there was really never a moment of comfort as this game more than lived up to the billing. Ireland now take complete control of Pool B and can secure top spot by beating Scotland in two weekends time, meaning a likely quarter-final against New Zealand back at this venue.
Farrell’s men will need the weekend break to recover from this brutal battle but they can move forward with their confidence greatly boosted. After all the hype and expectation, Ireland showed they are the real deal.
The Boks will surely bounce back and will feel that they could even meet Ireland again later in this tournament. But tonight belongs to the Irish.
The opening quarter was a story of deep frustration for Ireland, with the lineout making a shambolic start. They had a chance five metres out from the Springboks line within three minutes of kick-off, but Pieter-Steph du Toit made his side’s second steal of the night and two regathered kicks later, the South Africans were down the other end, with Ringrose required to make a brilliant trackback tackle on opposite number Jesse Kriel.
But a few breakdowns later, Tadhg Furlong went off his feet and Libbok was able to give the Boks a 3-0 lead off the tee.
Two further Irish lineout losses followed swiftly but when they finally nailed one, they went close to scoring as Hugo Keenan careened down the left off Ringrose’s clever delayed pass and was stopped just metres out. Ireland knocked-on in the next carry.
An excellent James Lowe breakdown turnover gave Ireland their next visit to the 22 but again it was a missed chance as Boks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse got in on the act with his own jackal penalty win.
The lineout anxiety continued with a crooked throw from hooker Rónan Kelleher in the Irish 22, allowing the Boks a platform to send centre Damian de Allende smashing through Sexton’s missed tackle, which meant Caelan Doris had to scramble to stop him.
Sexton was down injured but rose to play on, with Ireland clinging on from the next close-range Boks attack. Kriel looked a certainty to score as he ran a hard line off the midfield scrum but Aki came up with a sensational try-saver and Kolisi knocked on Kriel’s offload. Ireland cleared, then Ryan and Beirne combined to force another knock-on from Kolisi just 20 seconds later.
Having made that massive defensive play, Aki then showed his attacking quality in the 31st minute with a momentum-shifting carry as he blasted through Libbok off an Irish scrum in their own half and scorched all the way into the Boks 22.
The South Africans recovered and started to drive Ireland back with their muscular defence, but then Sexton creatively lifted a pass out to Aki on the left touchline and he went forward again, offloading inside to Lowe. In the panicked scramble, Boks lock Franco Mostert went off his feet at the breakdown.
Ireland went into the corner rather than having a shot at goal from wide on the left. This time, they made it count. First, there were battering carries in an exchange of trench warfare, but then Ireland had the smarts and skills to finish. Sexton nearly darted over on one of his famous loops, then Jamison Gibson-Park hit Lowe, whose calm catch-pass sent Hansen over wide on the right. The Connacht man got precariously close to the deadball line but his run infield did help to give Sexton a better conversion position. The Irish skipper nailed it for a 7-3 Ireland lead.
There was one last chance for Farrell’s men before the interval as Josh van der Flier won a turnover penalty on the back of violent defensive work from Ringrose – who had returned from a HIA. Though the Irish lineout delivered, Ryan was adjudged to have knocked-on on the ground after a Boks tackle.
Ireland started the second half with some clever kicking from Gibson-Park and Sexton, the halfbacks rolling kicks into touch in the Boks 22. The second time, Peter O’Mahony’s lineout competition won the ball back for Ireland but Kelleher’s throw at the ensuing lineout was stolen by Mostert.
A big turnover penalty from number eight Jasper Wiese in the 46th minute saw scrum-half Faf de Klerk have an attempt at goal from five metres inside his own half and though it came back off the post, the fallout was damaging for Ireland.
The Boks raced to regather the bouncing ball and while Lowe came up with a remarkable bit of defence to manhandle Etzebeth, lifting him up and marching him back for a choke tackle turnover, the South African Bomb Squad started to be sent into the fray.
With Munster pair Jean Kleny and RG Snyman on in the second row, the first refresh Boks scrum effort saw Ireland going backwards, with Doris smashed in the carry, then Aki and van der Flier pinged for going off their feet.
Ominously, the Boks decided to go for a scrum with the kickable penalty. Again, they marched forward and then produced a clinical play off that excellent platform, with slick hands in midfield giving Libbok time to fire a long pass wide for Kolbe to finish on the left. Libbok should have added the extras but missed.
That meant that when the Irish scrum gave the Boks a taste of their own medicine in the 59th minute, with Frans Malherbe penalised for overextending, Sexton’s penalty from straight in front put Ireland back in the lead at 10-8.
That teed up a tense final quarter as the noise in Stade de France rose and rose, the Irish fans belting out another blast of The Fields of Athenry.
The intense scrum battle flipped back in the Boks favour in the 63rd minute as they blasted through the Irish pack and Libbok opted for a shot from 40 metres out, to the left of the posts. Again, he missed.
Ireland then handed de Klerk another long-range attempt, just inside his own half in the middle of the pitch, when replacement hooker Dan Sheehan was caught offside. With the clock ticking into the 66th minute, de Klerk was well wide.
It felt like Ireland needed to avoid scrums but a dropped high ball from James Lowe ensured another soon after de Klerk’s miss. However, Ireland’s reinforced pack held firm and sub scrum-half Conor Murray then came up with a crucial turnover penalty at the breakdown.
Still, the Boks flooded forward. Snyman made a big linebreak in midfield off Libbok’s pass and they threatened down the right on the next phase, only for Murray to knock the ball into touch in a tackle on du Toit.
The Boks maul fired, Beirne was done for side entry. Back into the right corner went the Boks as the clock ticked past 70. With the Irish support holding their breath for a second, South African sub hooker Deon Fourie, who is predominantly a back row, threw crooked into the lineout.
Sexton was called ashore with eight minutes to go and replacement out-half Jack Crowley soon tried a drop goal after a South African penalty invited them into the Boks half. It was partially blocked before rolling dead, meaning an attacking Irish scrum.
And with the Boks engaging early for the second time, referee Ben O’Keeffe awarded them the penalty and Crowley knocked over the three.
It still wasn’t done as the Boks got one more chance in the Ireland 22, building a powerful maul and inching towards the line. But Farrell’s men held on, fighting through to wrap up the ball and force the turnover. O’Keeffe’s final whistle was met with pure Irish joy in Paris.
South Africa scorers:
Tries: Cheslin Kolbe
Conversions: Manie Libbok [0 from 1]
Penalties: Manie Libbok [1 from 2], Faf de Klerk [0 from 2]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Mack Hansen
Conversions: Johnny Sexton [1 from 1]
Penalties: Johnny Sexton [1 from 1], Jack Crowley [1 from 1]
SOUTH AFRICA: Damian Willemse; Kurt-Lee Arendese, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe; Manie Libbok, Faf de Klerk; Steven Kitshoff (Ox Nche ’47), Bongi Mbonambi (Deon Fourie ’64), Frans Malherbe (Trevor Nyakane ’61); Eben Etzebeth (Jean Kleyn ’48), Franco Mostert (RG Snyman ’48); Siya Kolisi (captain) (Marco van Staden ’53), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese (Kwagga Smith ’48).
(Cobus Reinach ‘)
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose (HIA – Robbie Henshaw ’22 to ’35, permanent ’64), Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (captain) (Jack Crowley ’73), Jamison Gibson-Park (Conor Murray ’66); Andrew Porter (Dave Kilcoyne ’75), Rónan Kelleher (Dan Sheehan ’53), Tadhg Furlong (Finlay Bealham ’64); Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan (Iain Henderson ’53); Peter O’Mahony (Ryan Baird ’64), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe [NZR].
Written by Murray Kinsella and posted on the42.ie
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