This thing just keeps growing and growing. There’s never been an Irish rugby team quite like this one and there’s never been a Rugby World Cup game, nor atmosphere and such fervent support or sense of occasion, quite like Saturday’s epic 13-8 win over the Springboks.
Amid a sea of green the Stade de France rode constant waves of emotion from start to finish. Correction, from long before the start to long after the finish, as Ireland’s Call and then several hearty renditions of The Fields gave way to the Zombie green anthem immediately after the final whistle.
It’s known that 24,000 travelled from Ireland and it felt, looked and sounded like that number was matched again by the ex-pats. They all wore green, sang and roared themselves hoarse. The Aviva it wasn’t.
They proliferated the streets of Paris and celebrated long into the night in the European city that never sleeps, singing out taxi windows, pavements, boulevards and brasseries, before either wheeling their bags to metro stations or eating outdoors on a comparatively calm, warm and sunny Parisian Sunday afternoon.
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This collision also had the feel of a World Cup final in its intensity and tautness, and even its scoreline. Ireland’s greatest ever World Cup victory in a game between the world’s two highest-ranked sides cemented their standing in first place but more importantly left them in pole position in the pool of sharks.
True, this was not a fatal blow for South Africa. They will almost certainly advance to a thunderous quarter-final against an Antoine Dupont-less France, although the great man is recovering from his facial operation and with no time frame yet on his return has declared himself “hurt but not sunk”.
Furthermore, by the time Ireland meet Scotland in the Pool D finale on Saturday week in Stade de France, Andy Farrell’s side may not even have qualified for the last eight. Presuming Scotland back up Sunday’s bonus point win over Tonga by doing the same against Romania next Saturday, and South Africa do likewise against Romania next Sunday, Ireland would go into their final pool game on 14 points, one point behind the Boks and four ahead of Scotland.
In other words a loss without a bonus point would put Ireland out of the tournament. Jack Conan will come back into the mix but given that threat and the desire to top the pool while maintaining momentum, that would likely limit many changes to the frontline team.
John Fogarty said that Ireland will have a clean bill of health even though Josh van der Flier had his injured hand trodden on by the Boks’ replacement prop Ox Nche, although the scrum coach was unaware of the incident.
“I’m sure World Rugby will be looking across everything; referees will be looking across everything. I haven’t heard anything from our end. The disciplinary board will look at it. I’m sure World Rugby are all over those bits.”
A pool exit, if mathematically possible, would seem unthinkable after the events of Saturday night. Ireland weren’t at their fluid best, primarily because they weren’t allowed to be by the Boks’ remorseless pressure game. They lost five of their first eight lineouts before problem solving and demonstrating some of their inventive attacking rugby in their well-oiled locker. Their scrum wobbled, stiffened and had suffered damage as well as winning two key penalties.
Their lineout maul defence, like all of their defence, was immense. They rolled with the punches, saw out innumerable Boks’ power plays in a game of seemingly countless turning points, and stayed in the fight. This is a team that has long since ceased being bullied. Of their last 16 wins in a row, and 28 in their last 30 Tests, this was the lowest scoring. Their inner belief, as well as composure, is unwavering. Like all good sides, they stayed in the fight and found a way to win.
“It’s a weird feeling within this squad, I wouldn’t say it’s weird but I feel like we’ve earned it,” said an exhausted but happy Tadhg Beirne, after completing 80 minutes for Ireland’s fifth game running, and ahead of the squad’s well-earned three-day break with loved ones and families in France.
“When we go into the game I don’t think there’s anyone in this squad that feels like we’re going to lose. There’s just this aura within the squad where we know we can do it. We just have to deliver what we’re good at and thankfully we’ve been doing that in patches for a lot of games and that’s got us over the line. Going forward in this competition it’s about making those patches bigger and bigger and hopefully into an 80-minute performance.”
One always felt that winning this gripping, bruising, heavyweight collision and topping the group might be defining, but if anything the potential rewards seem even greater now.
Finishing second in Pool B would mean an eight-day turnaround before, in all probability, facing France, whereas winning the pool would mean a seven-day gap before, almost certainly, facing Joe Schmidt and the All Blacks.
Most of all, though, such has been the remarkable scale of Irish support it would seem equally safe to presume that playing New Zealand rather than the hosts would be akin to a home quarter-final rather than an away one.
“We’ve had some big days before in terms of results in the pool, but I’ve never, ever seen a crowd like that,” admitted the remarkable Johnny Sexton, still epitomising this team at 38 years of age more than anyone, and putting the figure at more like 60,000.
“They were insane throughout and they gave us the lift that we needed. Honestly, it’s not lost on us. We talk about it a lot, about inspiring those people that put their hand in their pocket week after week. They probably saved for four years to come here and it is something we refer to all the time and I mean that. We play for them and they gave us the edge tonight, so fair play to them.”
Farrell felt compelled to add: “It isn’t just them, it is the people back home as well. We know that back home is being worked up into a frenzy and if that is a sign of things that we can get excited about going forward then what a lift that’s going to give us.”
All aboard then. True, there’s plenty of road to travel yet. Nothing has been decided. It is still the toughest World Cup draw any Irish side has been handed. But even more so now, opportunity knocks now like never before.
Where will this thing end?
