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The deafening din of Irish supporters singing The Cranberries’ classic ‘Zombie’ and the others in their midst weeping for joy at the final whistle suggested a nation’s belief that their World Cup drought could be coming to an end.
A gutsy 13-8 win by Ireland – with Aussie Mack Hansen scoring the team’s only try to one from Springbok star Cheslin Kolbe – owed plenty to poor goal kicking from the Boks, who slipped from second to third on the world rankings.
Manie Libbok missed two, as did Faf de Klerk for a total off 11 points missed from the tee, but the Irish win was sealed when their replacement forwards held off the vaunted Bok Bomb Squad near their try line as the South Africans pushed for a maul try to level the scores.
Mack Hansen of Ireland celebrates victory at full-time following the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France on September 23, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Franco Arland/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Ireland’s Bundee Aki was named man of the match, and he thanked the Irish fans for the incredible noise they generated throughout.
At the end they dug deep for Zombie, seemingly aiming the repeated line “In your head” at their South African rivals.
“I’m lost for words. These Irish fans are incredible. Honestly, I’ve never, ever witnessed anything like it, the travelling crowd, it’s a joke, completely a joke and it’s only going to get bigger and crazier from here on in,” said Aki after the most best game of the tournament so far.
“Fair play to the boys for playing that well today. South Africa are an outstanding team. They are world champions for a reason.
“As a group and as a team we knew coming into this game, we knew we had to be a lot better than the previous games, in all areas of our game. We knew South Africa were going to bring it to us and look, they did. They put us under an immense amount of pressure but we trusted each other and the belief we have in this group is outstanding.”
Former Ireland winger Tommy Bowe described the emotion in the ground for the BBC.
“There are tears, you can see supporters around the stadium right now, there are old men literally in floods of tears. Yes this match wasn’t the World Cup final, yes it wasn’t a quarter-final match yet but it means absolutely everything to the fans, to these Irish players and this is just such a statement of intent to where this Ireland team are and where they are going at the moment,” said Bowe.
Damian Willemse of South Africa is dragged away from speaking to Jonathan Sexton of Ireland after the first South African try during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Ireland coach Andy Farrell was “unbelievably proud and I am sure the South Africa coaches are proud too. It was some battle, a tale of two halves, I thought we dominated field position in the first and they did in the second. At times we were hanging on in there.”
The Irish held out superbly against sustained attack.
“Simon Easterby [defence coach] has them whipped up into a frenzy. When a side is in a groove like that it says everything about their attitude,” said Farrell.
The Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi, who came off early in the second half, was typically gracious in defeat.
“We would have loved to win but it was a great game, an intense game. Congrats to them. They played really well. They were able to hold the pressure in the first half and they got the try,” said Kolisi.
“I am proud of the way we played. I think we left a little bit of opportunities out there and they also did. It was a great test for us in the group.”
Boks coach Jacques Nienaber described it as a “proper Test match.
“Like I said before the game, I think both teams would learn a lot from this game, the two best teams playing against each other, which is a great test and preparation going forward.”
Libbok, who twice narrowly dragged shots at goal to the left of the posts said his team was “unlucky.”
“It was one hell of a game. Ireland brought it to us but I am proud of the boys for sticking in there and giving it our all,” Libbok said.
“Obviously in a game like this you have to take your points and you have to convert pressure into points. Unfortunately we didn’t get it right.”
He added Ireland are “without a doubt a class outfit. They have quality players all around the park and they are a good team.”
South Africa came into the contest with a 7-1 split between forwards and backs on the bench and Ireland boldly looked to keep the ball in play as much as possible, going for the corner instead of kicking early penalties.
South Africa got onto the scoreboard first in a brutal start with a Libbok penalty as huge tackles and collisions drew oohs and aahs from the 78,542 crowd at Stade de France in Paris.
Ireland wasted chances with three disastrous lineouts but came close when Hugo Keenan ghosted past a tackler only to be brought down a couple of metres from the line.
Ireland looked to keep the ball in play, testing their opponents’ rush defence, but made too many handling errors at first.
A long possession spell, however, was rewarded when Sexton danced his way into the South Africa defence, bringing the ball near the posts after a classic one-two with centre Robbie Henshaw before Hansen finished it off on the right flank after being set up by James Lowe.
It was the first try the Springboks had conceded at a World Cup since their semi-final against Wales in 2019.
South Africa made three changes to their forwards line, bringing in part of their ‘bomb squad’ early in the second half, and it immediately paid off as they won their scrum and Kolbe darted over to give his team the lead.
However, Sexton put the Irish back in front with a routine penalty and Libbok failed again from 40 metres after Ireland were sanctioned at the scrum.
With four minutes left, Ireland won another penalty in front of the posts, triggering a huge clamour from their supporters who were fired up by an ecstatic Hansen.
Crawley slotted it home and Ireland withstood a last South Africa charge to all but secure a quarter-final clash against the runners-up of Pool A – likely to be three-time champions New Zealand – while the Springboks could face hosts France.
(With agencies)