One of the greatest battles in rugby history ends with the South African striker pushing hard over the Irish try line and time is running out. After half an hour of siege, the XV del Trébol, the delightful losers defeated in their seven World Cup quarter-finals, resists. This Saturday in Paris he took on his role as favorite, that of a team that leads the world rankings after 16 wins in the last 16 games and defeated the reigning champions, who collapsed with all honors at the Stade de France, which attended a worthy dress rehearsal for crowning finale.
The world’s two best-performing teams have shown – with France’s permission – that low scores are not incompatible with beauty. The duel of impacts and strong strikers was sung. The Irish 10, Johnny Sexton, did not shy away from this, foregoing the width and sending his troops to clash in the central axis, like invaders hitting the entrance to a fortress. Without arguments to discuss this initiative, South Africa invoked its defensive waistline, the elasticity to retreat without breaking.
So he took over the tocuh and turned the seemingly routine exercise of bringing the oval into play from the touchline into a dentist’s visit for the Irish, who gained territory but couldn’t keep the ball. And a visit to South Africa’s elite zone ended with a counterattack by the Springboks, who opened the scoring with a comfortable shot from Manie Libbok. When questioned about his lack of accuracy – his team came into the game with 10 of 18 stick shots – he ran to the end of regulation time and secured the shot.
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The pressure from South Africa began to undermine the confidence of the Trebol XV, who were restricted to their field due to their mistakes on the wing. The Springboks were given the coup de grace by an attack from their forwards who reached the height of the post but were unable to secure possession before the impending try. Ireland saved the score with aggressive defense and stuck to their attack plan. When he returned to South Africa’s Zone 22, he remained loyal to it. No kicks or sticks; Bring the ball into contact for testing. Sexton was inches away from the goal line, but it was Mack Hansen who put an end to the opposition’s contortions by taking advantage of the dominance on the right side and transferring the green’s dominance to the scoreboard (3:7).
South Africa treated the game as a background exercise, with an unprecedented seven forwards and only one substitute at the back. Two armies to tackle scrums and advance. Ireland learned their lesson from the dressing room, successfully kicking the wing and stealing a compromised ball in the South African zone, but lacked bite and returned the favor in the next set. And a missed chance against the champion usually results in a penalty. With the reinforcements in place, South Africa discovered a weak spot in the Irish scrum and overran it twice in succession when Cheslin Kolbe’s try on the wing.
The Springboks regained the lead but Libbok missed a simple conversion, leaving the Irish only one ahead. A battle between superpowers in a constant adjustment exercise that saw the Irish scrum swap chips and regain their balance for a few minutes. He not only covered up his mistake, but also opened up a mistake on the opponent’s platform: a penalty shot and Sexton, an infallible shooter, put his team back in the lead at the end of the hour (8:10). It was the penultimate relief for an Ireland already overwhelmed by the narrative.
Now it was South Africa who had to change their dominance, but Libbok missed another easy kick and Faf De Klerk responded with a deflected projectile from the middle of the field, minutes after he smashed another against the crossbar. Ireland defended like a cat on his stomach, fighting for contact or kicking the ball away, while Sexton’s trot as he left the game highlighted the endless number of hits he took. It was his replacement, Jack Crowley, who sealed the victory with a routine kick after a penalty forced by his mishandled scrum, and who was on the pitch celebrating the failure of the final South African attack.
This way the difficult part of the painting is outlined. If Ireland performs well in their final game against Scotland, they will win the group and face New Zealand in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, South Africa, expected to finish second, face France, a host weakened by, among other things, injuries to their great leader Antoine Dupont.
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