James Lowe enveloped Rieko Ioane in a bear hug tackle on 72 minutes near the halfway line as 51,700 people inhaled simultaneously. If the pass goes then a try not so much beckons but is a racing certainty. New Zealand's shot at an unlikely redemption was snuffed out in a nanosecond.
Lowe’s read was as beautiful as his timing. Peter O’Mahony completed the pincer movement by latching onto the ball and winning a penalty turnover. Two independent actions fused in perfect harmony. The explosion of noise from the stands was both recognition for the actions of the two players and a massive outpouring of relief.
The Irish wing offered his insight into the pivotal play flecked with typical humour. “I saw we were in trouble. I thought ’sh*t, we are under the pump here’. And then I just tried to anticipate where I thought the ball was going to be, get myself in a better position, make the tackle, and was able to wrap, and then Peter O’Mahony, got the turnover.
“Mate, it was huge. What you boll****s always get on to me about (defence) I’ve been working on for the last six months. Hopefully you can abuse me for something else.”
So was it better than the try he scored on 13 minutes, dotting down in the corner in defiance of Jordie Barrett’s last ditch tackle. “100 percent, that’s what I told you I’d been working on, to be able to show it on the biggest stage, [80]minutes of rugby, that’s what it’s about.”
Ireland were challenged to back up the performance notes in the victory over Japan and they were pitch perfect in many respects. They demonstrated the courage to play, using the full expanse of the pitch and cleverly switching the points of attack. They won the gainline battle for large tranches of the game.
Lowe agreed that Andy Farrell’s Ireland has a playing identity that’s become really clear and clicked impressively in the last two matches. “We’re playing the way rugby should be played. Tight shapes, connections out the back, boys wanting to be on the front foot, boys wanting to catch the ball on the line, a little bit of footwork, get the hands free.
“To play against the best team, the way they probably play the game and to beat them at their own game in a lot of ways, it’s huge for the confidence. I feel like people will be like ‘that’s not the Ireland of old, the box-kick Ireland, it’s playing off the cuff, pretty tight shapes, making defenders make decisions. It’s huge and it’s what we want to carry on doing.”
He admitted that he was pretty blown away by the atmosphere. “Absolutely amazing, the whole cliché of the 16th man sort of thing, it was electric from start to finish; when we needed a lift they were there. When we needed an extra hand the crowd was there, they stayed around to the end.
“We could feel it from the start; we felt it at the end. I’m ecstatic, I’ve never played in something like that before.”
So how did it feel playing against the country of his birth? Weird? Motivating? He smiled: “It was all of those things. Confusion. There was a sense of pride to be able to stand in front of the haka; there was a sense of stress. But we played footy and won.
“We didn’t play negative footy, like the stereotype South Africa. They’re not playing the game the way it should be played when they win. We’ve got our own identity and it’s great. Sorry I’m mentally fatigued; I’ll probably just ramble on. I get confused at the best of times, I’m sorry.”
Not today, not when it mattered.
