Ireland assumes its position as a big favourite

Appointed. By dominating South Africa in a thrilling match (13-8), the Irish made it clear that they have a firm intention of returning to the Stade de France every weekend in October, and especially lifting the trophy there on October 28th. It’s over, but the path to the quarter-finals is clear. It will take a 7+ point defeat to Scotland on 7 October to prevent Ireland from entering the final stage of a fourth successive World Cup. And honestly, after the win tonight (16th in a row!), it’s hard to believe.

However, the Irish, world-ranked, were not perfect, far from it. Many bad choices peppered the beginning of the match. Overconfident, or perhaps arrogant, the Club XV refused to take the first penalty even though it was within the ropes of fireworks technician and captain Jonathan Sexton. They lose the ball by a step. They repeated the same mistake a few minutes later, committing a series of fruitless penalty kicks, even though they had the opportunity to open the scoring. Within 20 minutes, they lost no less than four balls in a touch! “That’s the quality of the Springboks. This was the reaction of Clover’s coach, Andy Farrell, when asked about the topic in a press conference.

“It’s a perfect match.”

We had to wait until the 33rd minute to see the Irish open a counter-attack. After a long period of barren South African dominance, the Irish regained the lead through their midfielder Bondi Akhi, who excelled throughout the match. They were able to blame the Boks and scored a try after another penalty.

The two teams return to the locker room with a score of 3 to 7 in favor of Ireland. On the way back, the South Africans returned to the field with great intentions. In particular, they bring their seat in an XXL size. After a penalty kick taken by Faf de Klerk that hit the right post for the Irish poles, they forced the Irish to commit a foul and then scored through Cheslin Kolbe (50) after he penetrated the green ball. Lebok escapes with two points by missing the conversion (8-7). We think the game will change, but the Irish are replenishing their ranks and the influence of the substitutes will tip the scales in their favor. During the training duel, Andy Farrell took a more classic option against his opponent, with a three-quarter bench. Proof of this, despite their control over the crowd, was that the Irish strikers won two crucial penalty kicks..

“The flexibility has been remarkable. The Irish coach explains. The subs had a big impact, they brought a lot of energy. They entered the competition well with the group. I really enjoyed the whole game, everything that happened, the movement of the ball, and the way we were able to keep the score. It’s a perfect match. During the second half we kept the result. In the end, they missed penalties in crucial moments. This contributed to our performance.”

The Springboks’ impeccable ground game was frustrated by the Irish, who were forced to play against nature by spreading the balls excessively, having been punished too often in the rocks. At the end of the match, while South Africa appeared to be threatening to break through a group from the Irish goal line, Jonathan Sexton’s partners were able to show tremendous solidarity and score the result.

And the confidence in his game plan seems unwavering

What could happen to this team now, as confidence in their game plan appears firm? At the end of the match, the players remained for several minutes engaging with the crowd, which was fully committed to their cause. I must say that the Irish almost played at home and all these lovely people seemed certain about the final outcome of this World Cup… If logic is respected, the Clover XV should face the All Blacks in the quarter-finals on October 14th. In Saint Denis. The New Zealanders were beaten by the French in their opening match, and were beaten by the Irish at the same stage of the competition four years ago… but they remain on a five-game losing streak in their last eight meetings.

A deadline that the players or even the coaching staff refuse to address… They all swear to focus only on the next match in two weeks, against Scotland, the fifth country in the world that must play its qualifiers in this match. “A tough team to face.” In the words of Andy Farrell, but they haven’t beaten the Irish since 2017, during a Six Nations match at Murrayfield… Other than that, all the lights are green… The only black dot on the horizon, the Irish have never made it You’re past the quarter-final stage!