If a Six Nations win wasn’t enough to demonstrate their World Cup winning prospects then Ireland’s big win over South Africa last weekend certainly commands respect from all rugby-playing nations. The destruction of the side that toppled New Zealand merely a few weeks ago has certainly lifted the confidence of the O’Driscoll-less Ireland. And whilst all the pressure is on England to succeed in the forthcoming World Cup, it truly is the Men in Green who are the hope of the home nations.
So why was Ireland’s victory over South Africa so special?
Firstly, the Springboks were in great form and had many of the world’s form players in their side; the likes of Willie Le Roux and Duane Vermeulen, who had recently helped their side to a narrow victory against the all-conquering All Blacks. But it was the way that Ireland dealt with these threats that silenced the rugby world. Fullback Le Roux did not have any breathing space all game, as he was being watched closely by debutants Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, while Vermeulen was outshone by opposite number Heaslip, in what was a commanding and gritty performance from the Leinsterman. Secondly, the tactical nous of Head Coach Joe Schmidt came to the fore, which would have delighted Ireland fans. The employment of a fairly new tactic, whereby the team in possession at the lineout forms a maul and the opposition forwards do not compete and instead players come around the side and pinch the ball, was very effective, and helped to disrupt the rolling maul; one of South Africa’s strongest facets.
So Ireland took out three of South Africa’s biggest dangers: Le Roux, Vermeulen and the maul, but they still needed to actually take the game by the scruff of the neck. With the game management of half-backs Connor Murray and Johnny Sexton they did exactly that. Sexton was faultless from the tee and he also posed numerous questions of the South African defenders, while scrum-half Murray kept South Africa pinned back and under pressure.
The quality of this half-back pairing of Murray and Sexton and the tactical nous of Schmidt has the ability to unlock any team next Autumn. Not forgetting an already formidable forward pack, which will be bolstered by the return of Lions Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy and a backline which contains game-changers such as Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney. Add to these the luck of the Irish and you have a World Cup winning formula. Compare it to any team that has won the World Cup and you’ll find the same equation. Look at England in 2003; they had a huge forward pack littered with British and Irish Lions, a scrum-half who controlled games and a fly-half who could do absolutely everything, and they were downright lucky at times, too. If Wilkinson played well, England played well. Similarly, if Sexton plays well, Ireland play well. Sexton’s fitness will have a massive bearing on whether Ireland have a realistic hope for 2015.
However, it is easy to overreact to such a dominant win over a Southern Hemisphere side. Indeed, wins for Ireland over the ‘big three’ are so few and far between that this win is almost irrelevant. They have only won 14 out of 81 games over Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in their history! The chances of them being able to replicate such performances in the World Cup are statistically slim. And one stereotype associated with Ireland, is that they fail to deliver at World Cups, having never gone further than the quarter final in each of the seven tournaments. It is therefore, hard to tell at this stage whether Ireland are a good prospect for the World Cup. On the other hand, if they continue in the same vein and beat Australia in a couple of weeks time, then we will know that this team is the real deal.
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