Former Ulster and Ireland out-half David Humphreys looks ahead to the mouthwatering clash between Ireland and world champions South Africa in Paris.
- Everything going to plan
For too many years, Ireland spent more time worrying about stopping the opposition playing than they did about how they were going implement their own game plan.
Many of us who played through that period look on very enviously at the confidence, quality and expectation that Ireland now bring to every performance.
Two games into this World Cup, it couldn't really have gone much better for Ireland and it looks and feels very different to the how we have started the last few tournaments. Not that you would have believed it when reading some of the match reports highlighting errors and a lack of quality to parts of the performances. World Cups aren’t won in the pool stages, and while they can be lost if you get it badly wrong, Ireland have done everything they needed to do in terms of building slowly into the competition.
Andy Farrell has got it exactly right with his team selection so far and being able to pick from pretty much a full squad is exactly what he would have hoped for in the build-up to today’s game. It doesn’t feel quite right that the top two ranked teams in the world are playing against each other in the pool stages, but maybe this is the perfect dress rehearsal for the World Cup final. Ireland have had the edge over South Africa in recent years and despite two very different styles of play, there is very little between the two teams at their very best.
A lot is written about South Africa’s power and physicality, traits that have always dominated rugby in that country, but Ireland have shown they can match anyone physically and their point of difference is the pace and accuracy of their play.
The holders are more reliant on the pressure they create through their defence, and moments of magic from their outside backs, compared to Ireland’s multi-phase attack and well planned zero-phase attack plays. It makes for a fascinating contrast of styles, but one Ireland will expect to win.
- Keeping up with the Joneses
Since the beginning of professional rugby 27 years ago, there has always been a strong South African influence with many coaches and players having contributed to the development at all levels of the game in Irish rugby.
From Alan Solomons' arrival at Ulster in 2000 through to Rassie Erasmus’ short stay at Munster and interestingly, the current Springbok’s head coach, Jacques Nienaber, arriving at Leinster after the Rugby World Cup, coaching in Ireland has been, and remains, a highly desirable appointment for all ambitious coaches.While there hasn’t been much movement in the other direction, Felix Jones has carved out a very big coaching reputation in his time with South Africa.
Starting out with Munster, he left at the same time as Rassie Erasmus and over the last four years, helped coach the Springboks to a World Cup win and a Lions series success.
While he may not have the high profile of certain other successful Irish coaches, his coaching journey is moving in the same upward trajectory as his coaching reputation, which may lead him back to a role in Ireland at some stage in the future.Together with Erasmus’ knowledge of the Irish game, their combined rugby intellect gives South Africa a distinct advantage over the other rugby nations when it comes to preparing for the challenge of playing Ireland.
- Referees need to step up
This Rugby World Cup needs Antoine Dupont in the same way that a football World Cup needs Lionel Messi.
Watching him go off injured on Thursday was a very clear reminder of why World Rugby needs to protect players from high tackles and the risk of head injuries.
There has been a lot of criticism at the World Cup about the inconsistency in defining head contact, but the tackle on Dupont was as bad as it gets - reckless and out of control and should have resulted in an immediate red card rather than a yellow card.
The bunker system has been a positive for the game in terms of reducing the amount of wasted time, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for the referee to avoid making a big decision - when it’s clear and obvious, as was the case in the France v Namibia game, make a decision which states loudly and clearly that we are trying to protect players from the risk of injury.
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