South Africa went down 8-13 to Ireland in a titanic nail-biting Rugby World Cup contest to decide the top of pool B in Paris last night.
Oh, it could have gone the other way, had South Africa’s kickers not missed three penalty kicks and a conversion, not to mention some silly mistakes and also a spot of bad luck.
But as the sun rises this morning the realisation will dawn on some supporters that this edition of the tournament could be a party reserved exclusively for the northern hemisphere sides.
The Springboks, the defending champions from 2019, are entrenched in second place in pool B behind Ireland, the top-ranked team in the world, and are heading towards a quarterfinal against high-flying hosts France on October 15.
Ireland are travelling towards a top-eight clash against the All Blacks. And with Australia looking impotent, there’s a possibility all four semifinalists could be Six Nations contenders.
Every Rugby World Cup final since this tournament started in 1987 has featured at least one side from the southern hemisphere.
If there’s any consolation South Africa can take from the defeat, it’s that they fought their way back to the top after losing to the All Blacks in 2019.
And they really weren’t far off the mark at the Stade de France.
The 7-1 strategy of loading the bench with forwards nearly worked for Siya Kolisi’s men. They had looked dangerous in the earlier phases of the first half, stealing the first three lineouts and pushing their way deep into Irish territory to land a Manie Libbok penalty for an early 3-0 lead.
But once the Irish settled down, they started testing the Bok defence, finding little gaps here and there, until they went over in the first half.
Down 3-7 early in the second half, four of the Bomb Squad were brought on for a scrum deep in the Irish half, and they demolished their opponents, winning a penalty and applying pressure that resulted in winger Cheslin Kolbe going over unmarked down the left.
Up 8-7, the match was taken away by two Irish penalties and the three costly South African misses.
There’s no more room for South African errors going forward.
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