Well then, how do you follow that? You know . . . that! Emulating Troy Parrott and the Republic of Ireland’s win over Portugal at the Aviva Stadium was a tough ask. You half expected the stadium to still be vibrating for the Ireland rugby team’s Test against Australia 48 hours later. The players had admitted to taking motivation from the exploits of their footballing counterparts.
So, by extension, this should apply even more this week after the spine-tingling deeds of Parrott and co in Budapest on Sunday. Ireland are primed to face the best rugby team in the world on Saturday and, perhaps, the best team of all time.
The 46-19 win over the Wallabies at the Aviva Stadium ensured Andy Farrell’s team go into this seismic meeting with the world champions in a better place than might have been the case.
Ireland’s record win over Australian sets up Springboks clash perfectly
They will need to be. The Springboks are in us-against-the-world, full-metal-jacket mode. They appear set on sending tremors through European rugby.
The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times
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Robbie Henshaw reaffirmed his class against Australia, but a tougher opponent lies in wait
South Africa fuelled for Ireland Test by their unrivalled sense of grievance
[ Springboks arrive in Dublin nursing feelings of resentment over red cardsOpens in new window ]
Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks brains trust have seemingly prioritised this end-of-year tour over the Rugby Championship, with the games against France and Ireland circled in red.
A striking feature of their games this year has been their increased staying power. Last July, in the first of two Tests at home to a depleted Italy – which they won 42-24 – they lost the second period 21-14.
In their first Rugby Championship game against an Australia side which was at a peak after the Lions tour, the Boks led 22-0 after 18 minutes. But the Wallabies scored 38 unanswered points for their first win in South Africa in over a decade and their first victory at Ellis Park in 62 years. South Africa lost the second half 33-0, at home and at altitude. There was even talk of them being over the hill.
When beating Australia a week later, they lost the second-half 12-10 and were indebted to James O’Connor missing some eminently kickable penalties and conversions. By the time they faced the All Blacks in Auckland in round three, the first signs of a distinct change were in evidence. They won the second period of that Test 14-10, despite coming up just short.
A week later in Wellington, the Springboks produced their first of two statement wins this year, recovering from a 10-7 half-time deficit to score 36 unanswered points against the All Blacks. They did so with a thrilling mix of their traditional scrummaging and mauling power, potent kicking game and brilliant finishing out wide.
The 43-10 defeat was the heaviest loss ever suffered by the All Blacks. It eclipsed the 35-7 thumping in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham two years ago when Erasmus unveiled a 7-1 bench. But the destruction in Wellington was even more frightening. And it set a tone.
In Durban a fortnight later, the gifted Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a record 37 points, including three tries, as his side beat Argentina 67-30. The Springboks outscored the Pumas 42-7 in the second half.
After trailing Argentina 13-10 at Twickenham a week later, South Africa scored 19 points to 14 after the break and then outscored Japan 35-7 at Wembley in a warm-up for the grudge match against France in Paris.
This was billed as opportunity for the French to avenge the World Cup quarter-final in which Les Bleus believed they were seriously wronged by the match officials. But nobody does “being wronged” quite like the Springboks. Remember Erasmus’s hour-long video rant after the loss to the Lions in the first Test in 2021?
The Boks pitched up on an impassioned night in the Stade de France two Saturdays ago.
Their siege mentality was further fuelled by the 39th-minute straight red card incurred by Lood de Jager for hitting the jaw of the stooping Thomas Ramos.
They had trailed 14-6 to two brilliantly worked tries by Damian Penaud. A capacity crowd smelled victory but France overplayed their hand as the Boks went to the air and cranked up their scrum and maul. Compared to Wellington, this was old-school South Africa. Reduced to 14 men and 14-13 down at half-time, which would become 17-13, they outscored France 19-0 thereafter.
In the 69th minute, when leading 18-17, the substituted captain Siya Kolisi could be heard shouting at his teammates: “They’re tired. They’re f***ed.” Not interested in three-pointers, twice the Boks went to the corner for the speedsters – replacement scrumhalf Grant Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu – to slice through.
The latter made Romain Ntamack look like he was jogging on the spot for that try. On the sidelines and on the pitch, his teammates celebrated like they had won the World Cup.
Last Saturday in Turin was more of the same. A much-changed side played for 69 minutes with 14 men after a straight red in the 11th minute for Franco Mostert after another head shot, this time on Italy’s Paolo Garbisi.
Erasmus made five substitutions before half-time and the Boks won the second half 22-11. Again, they celebrated every try and the full-time whistle as if it was a World Cup knock-out match.
South Africa have now arrived in Dublin believing, more than ever, that the world is against them. In their Monday briefing, assistant coach Mzwandile Stick fuelled their sense of grievance over the officiating of their matches. The Boks are preparing for Mostert’s hearing and an appeal against de Jager’s suspension.
Everybody has it in for them. Men on a mission who, as much as any Springboks team that has ever lived, never remotely think, not even for a second, they are beaten.
