Mack Hansen and Cheslin Kolbe’s tries were eerily similar. A mirror image. The Stade de France was a collision course of two world superpowers. Right wing and left wing, where fascism gave way to dynamism and communism succumbed to adventurism.
In the stands and at home there were aneurysms and alcoholism and maybe both. Like a passing hearse, it was painful to watch, yet you couldn’t take your eyes away. The birth of the perfect concoction of nausea and intrigue.
Stomach what you can. Keep it locked away. Tuck in.
We’ve become rather accustomed to a free-flowing Ireland. During this year’s march to a Grand Slam, Ireland averaged 30.2 points, with the 22 against Scotland the lowest recorded. Four bonus points from five. Four tries, four tries, five tries, three tries, four tries. Emphatic.
And with that level of dominance comes identity. Ireland built a game plan founded on attacking structure, owning the ball, creating options to make defenders make a decision. The possibilities are so endless that the risk is transferred to the defence.
Inside man or outside? Drift or press? A brilliant read, or a game-changing error.
On Saturday, South Africa ate the foundations beneath the Andy Farrell palace like a colony of termites on their death row meal. Decision making was eliminated in their own magnificent defence.
The principle is rather straightforward. So too, the execution with 100 per cent commitment. Smash the ball carrier and the endless Irish options are eliminated. Without front foot ball, you lose depth, you lose pace, you lose energy.
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Former World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, attempted to make smithereens of Johnny Sexton’s ribcage. On that particular excursion he failed, but you can’t fault a man for trying.
When James Lowe’s pass found Mack Hansen, it felt like the only time the pressure dissipated in the full 80 minutes or more. By hook or by crook, Ireland stuck to the game plan. A swing and a miss from Sexton, before the knockout blow.
Hansen, like an apple through a letterbox. Try time. Breathe.
What perhaps South Africa didn’t expect was the Irish response in defence. An early rib-tickler from Ronán Kelleher was a sign of things to come. Although not to the same extent, South Africa struggled to break the gain line.
And so a grudge match ensued. Many argued South Africa left 11 points behind them, but Faf de Klerk’s kicks were both behind the halfway line. Even your average GAA fanatic could teach Rassie Erasmus and his beacon of light a thing or two about the scoring zone.
Mannie Libbok’s efforts, far more kickable, should have sailed over and would have reduced a five-point deficit to zero. And perhaps that would have been fitting.
Ireland were equally ineffective in the opposite way. Kicking to the corner, turning down shots on goal, losing lineouts at will by times. In defeat, Johnny Sexton’s decisions would have been criticised to the point of crucifixion. Four points in the bag and all is forgiven.
How Peter O’Mahony and James Ryan managed to shore up the lineout mid-match is a minor miracle. Jean Kleyn, part of Ireland’s 2019 RWC squad, and O’Mahony’s former Munster teammate RG Snyman would have been able to read Ireland’s body language like no other team can.
Fix it they did, while Ireland’s scrum held parity almost all day. South Africa’s best scrummager, Bongo Mbonambi, was left on longer than usual in the absence of Malcolm Marx.
Perhaps the lack of faith in his eventual replacement Deon Fourie was the rationale in withstanding the temptation to unleash the 'bomb squad' all at once. Marx may well have made all the difference, but Conor Murray alone highlighted the deficiencies of the seven-one split.
Libbok now will likely be made the scapegoat. 2019 hero Handre Pollard is untouchable, having not kicked a ball for the Springboks this year. It’s difficult to imagine a world where they don’t revert to type.
On Libbok, perhaps there is a sense of sympathy. Rewind back to the URC final and that certainly wouldn’t linger down south. An early intercept saw him tearing through the Munster defence to dot down in Cape Town.
Approaching the try line, he turned to taunt those in red in his wake. It’s safe to say these things aren’t forgotten.
Munster got the last laugh on that occasion, and many Saffas harbour hopes of the reverse should Ireland make the Rugby World Cup final for the first time in history.
There’s plenty of rugby to be played between now and Saturday October 28, however.
