David Corkery on rugby: This was one of the craziest games of rugby ever played

Unquestionably, one of the craziest games of rugby ever played.

Welcome to the alarming, monotonous and punishing world of modern rugby, where muscle and power are now the only way forward.

I can only assume that every international rugby coach in the world would have been glued to this game with a view to looking at two of the best sides in the world go at it toe to toe. And what they will have taken from it is a realisation that unless they can unearth or manufacture players that have the physical characteristics of Arnold Schwarzenegger and can run like Usain Bolt, their hopes of competing at the top are becoming smaller and smaller.

I think everybody fully realised that when the game of rugby union went professional after the 1995 World Cup that the physical size of the international player would increase, but I think no one envisaged just how big and powerful the players have actually become.

My question now is, how big will these players get and where will it all stop?

Long gone are the days when skill, a bit of bravery and tactical awareness would be enough to see you leave the field with a victory under your belt.

Nowadays as an international coach if you are to have any chance of winning a game, you must have at least, four front props who weigh over 120kgs, two hookers 110kgs, four second rows standing 6’6” or taller and five backrowers who are prepared to put their heads where you wouldn’t put a concrete block.

COMBAT

Heading into this game, everybody knew that South Africa were going to unleash the biggest and strongest 23 players they could. It was up to Andy Farrell and his coaching ticket to come up with a plan to combat this.

Before the Australian game two weekends ago which Ireland won well, Farrell would have sat his players down and asked them if they really wanted to be part of this Irish side.

He questioned their attitude, their understanding of where they need to be mentally and most importantly, did they have the ability to learn from their mistakes. They went on to beat that average Australian team by a scoreline of 46-19 and did so with a greatly improved performance from their previous games against Japan and New Zealand. 

What really shocked me from Saturday’s loss was the players' lack of rugby intelligence.

In order to be successful against a team like South Africa, you need to have three entities on the pitch with you for the entirety of the game.

Firstly, you must be prepared to meet them head-on in the physical challenge they will launch at you.

Any regressive traits will be identified very quickly and shoved straight down your throat. I thought Ireland stood front and centre when it came to this task.

They may not have won many of the gain line battles, but they certainly didn’t hide in the shadows.

Secondly, you simply must be able to win your own set pieces and be able to put some kind of pressure on theirs.

The return from the Irish line-out was good, but when it came to the Irish scrum, the outcome can only be described as catastrophic.

DEMOLISHED

Despite having two of the game's strongest and most experienced props in Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter, the Irish scrum was completely demolished and when this happens, your chances of winning any game of rugby are almost halved immediately.

Finally, every Irish player that ran out onto that patch of 100m x 70m bit of turf on Saturday evening needed to display a level of rugby acumen that surpassed that of their opposing number and this certainly did not transpire.

When will players learn that they will no longer get away with irresponsible head high shots or entering a ruck with no other intention but to cause serious injury to their fellow opponent as James Ryan clearly did.

Even if the ref was to have missed it, there are multiple high definition cameras, a TMO and a pair of touch judges that won’t. Stupid doesn’t even come close to describing what he did and I hope his punishment is fitting for the crime he committed.

Jack Crowley also needs a good kick in the ass for getting the yellow card he was shown. There is simply nowhere to hide any longer on the field and whilst his infringement was only sinical, it cost his team dearly.

Ireland’s next game will be away to France in the Six Nations and if they cant find away to fix some of the physical and disciplinary issues that have suddenly crept into their game, it could well be a very long and arduous 2026 for Farrell and company.