By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Nobody talks up a storm better than the Irish.
They are, according to the Irish themselves, the de facto world champions. Okay, so they didn’t even make it past the quarter-finals in the World Cup, but everybody knows they are the champions.
Last week, all week long, the rugby world heard that Leinster, stacked with Irish internationals, were simply too good for the Bulls.
And they made a strong case. How could they possibly lose with players like Dan Sheehan, Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier in the forwards, and Jamison Gibson-Park, Garry Ringrose and James Lowe in the backs? That is almost Ireland’s international team!
The Bulls, as everybody knew, were without wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, fielding stand-in wings Devon Williams and Sergeal Petersen.
But when the talking stopped and the two teams met between the four lines on the rugby field, it was immediately clear that the Bulls hadn’t listened to the hype.
It was a hard-fought battle that took until the 20th minute before the first score when James Lowe scored for Leinster, but the Bulls stayed in the fight.
Despite some of the very worst officiating since the World Cup, the Bulls won 25-20 and by three tries to two, outplaying Leinster and knocking them right out of the finals.
Back at Thomond Park in Munster, the Glasgow Warriors were given even less of a chance of a victory. Log leaders Munster were going to take care of them quickly before heading into the final, probably against fellow Irish team, Leinster.
But the Scots also hadn’t read the script. In a low-scoring game, they beat Munster by 17-10.
There could not have been too much celebration in Ireland on Saturday night.
How the Irish insist on being the world champions only the Irish understand. The Springboks have won the World Cup four times and the All Blacks three times. The Irish have never made it to a final, but they insist that they are the best in the world.
Now they have been knocked out of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship twice on the same day.
If there were any festivities in Dublin on Saturday night, Low Lie the Fields of Athenry would not have been sung with the same gusto as it was at Thomond Park in Limerick on Saturday afternoon.
Talk is cheap, but money buys the Tullamore Dew.
Pictured above: Man of the Match, Cameron Hanekom played the best match of his career
Source: X
