Tadhg Beirne suspects Ireland and defending champions South Africa may cross paths again in the World Cup final.
It may have been a low-scoring match – 13-8 to Ireland – but the two top-ranked teams in the world served up an engaging contest in Paris on Saturday.
RASSIE: Pollard isn’t Superman
Ireland lock Beirne put in another outstanding performance and the explosion of joy at the final whistle said it all about how much the victory, albeit in a pool match, meant for the Irish players.
Beirne, though, thinks it has wider implications that could lead all the way to the final on 28 October back at the Stade de France, which is the only time these teams can meet again at this tournament.
“You know, we beat them back in November. They’re going to grow as the competition goes on, if we can keep going in the competition I’ve no doubt we’ll probably meet them again.”
The 31-year-old said Ireland had yet to produce a perfect display but that victories against the Boks are helping them build.
“They’re a serious side, they have unbelievable individuals,” he said of the Springboks.
“It’s all about how we learn from it and get better.
“As I said, it’s about putting our patches together into an 80-minute performance and if we do that, we know we can beat any team in the world.”
A record 16-match winning run attests to Ireland’s ranking.
“I feel like we’ve earned it in not doubting ourselves,” he said.
“When we go into the game I don’t think there’s anyone in this squad that feels like we’re going to lose.
“There’s just this aura within the squad where we know we can do it,
“We just have to deliver what we’re good at. Thankfully we’ve been doing that in patches for a lot of games and that’s got us over the line.”
MORE: France 2023 a four-nation “yawn”
The lineout is definitely one area where Ireland will need to improve – they lost their first four against the South Africans.
Johnny Sexton blamed it on bad calls rather than poor throwing from hooker Ronan Kelleher.
Nevertheless it is likely the fit-again Dan Sheehan, who came on for Kelleher in the second half, will start against Scotland in their final pool match on October 7.
“The lineout at the start of the first half, like if we had taken a few of those lineouts maybe it would have been a different scoreline,” said Beirne.
“I think there were a lot of opportunities left out there, you could feel it.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP