Brute force did not work against Ireland's ferocious defence. Photo: Aurélien Morissart/AP. Match Recap: South Africa v Ireland
By the time the final whistle blew and the Stade de France announcer played The Cranberry's «Zombies» (turning down the volume during the chorus to allow the estimated 30,000 Irish fans to to those gathered in the stadium, shout out “What's in your head?”), in your head? Zombie, zombie, zombie-ee…') it would be difficult to imagine a more enjoyable evening from an Irish point of view.
What a performance, what a statement from Andy Farrell's people. A 16th win in a row, this time against the world champions, which should ensure that the world number one ranked team finish top of Group B and thus avoid meeting hosts France in the quarter-finals.
And still. Excellent margin. While Ireland fans were understandably ecstatic to head out into the Parisian night to paint the city green, South Africans were filled with regret. If not for the four missed shots on goal in the second half, or one badly skewed lineout, or two penalties late in the scrum, things could have turned out very differently. And they knew it.
After the game, Boks fans took to social media in droves to demand answers. In their opinion, the lyrics of “Zombies” could just as easily have been addressed to their coaching team. “What's in your head, in your head?”
James Lowe greets fans after the match Photo: Julian Finney — World Rugby
What was going through the minds of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber when they selected Deon Fourie as their replacement hooker for a game of this magnitude? Fourie last played for Lyon in the 2017/18 season, when Jacob Zuma was South Africa's president and Allister Coetzee was Springbok coach. What do they think will happen when they are put under pressure in the final 15 minutes?
What was going through their heads when they chose Money Libbock in the fly field rather than the once again fit World Cup winner Handre Pollard, who was recently brought back into the Boks squad after hooker Malcolm Marks suffered a late-tournament injury?
Yes, Libbock assisted Cheslin Kolbe (would Pollard have created the same opportunity?), but he also missed two relatively easy shots on goal, in addition to two long-range shots missed by Faf de Klerk. And by the way, why did South Africa keep kicking at goal from the halfway line when they had such a strong lineout and no kicker?
Nienaber was later at pains to say that for him the main difference between the two teams was Irish speed and accuracy when breaking through, not shots on goal.
“Yes, we missed a couple of goals. scores off the tee, but I won't say that's the only reason he didn't cross the line,” the South African coach said. “I know you guys will say that. But we had opportunities, especially in the first half. And again at the end of the game. This mace at the end…»
Ultimately, South Africa tried to be smart in its choices and it backfired. They bet on a team without a professional kicker, without a dedicated hooker on the bench, and it backfired on them. All the talk beforehand was about how Ireland would deal with splitting the Boks' bench at 7-1. But in the end it was Ireland's traditional bench that made the difference in a 5-3 win.
Ireland James Ryan (centre) in action during a match. Photo: Shutterstock
Dan Sheehan and Ian Henderson came on and strengthened Ireland's lineout (not to mention the missed chances for South Africa to shoot, what about the four five-metre lineouts destroyed by Ireland); Conor Murray came on and not only won the pass but also forced the game in his first couple of minutes on the pitch; Jack Crowley replaced Johnny Sexton and scored the penalty; Dave Kilcoyne and Finley Bealham came on and helped win two late penalties.
South Africa, by contrast, lacked balance. They suffered without a quality kicker on the field. They could use Willie Le Roux in the closing stages. Suddenly their line-up, which includes four scrum-half halves and only one hooker, looks lopsided. It will be interesting to see how they do against Tonga next weekend; whether Pollard would return immediately; whether they'll go back to 6-2 on the bench or even 5-3; will one of their midfielders get «injured» and bring in Joseph Dweba or someone similar.
The scary thing, at least from everyone else's point of view, is that even with four missed shots and thanks to numerous With the odds stacked against them, South Africa were just one converted try away from winning the game. Some of their tackles were downright atrocious (30 dominant tackles in total).
As Nienaber later warned, the world champions will undoubtedly learn from this defeat and come back stronger, most likely with Pollard in their ranks. In the meantime, they will lick their wounds. It was a night where they were hoisted by their own petard.
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