No team wants to face Ireland in a rugby match, according to fans celebrating the country’s win against South Africa last night.
Ireland beat South Africa in the Rugby World Cup 13 to 8 at Stade de France, Paris.
Following the win, Newstalk Reporter Henry McKean spoke to some of the thousands of fans celebrating across the city.
“Lots of the Irish pubs were packed, there's something like 50,000 Irish fans here,” he told On the Record with Gavan Reilly.
“They partied the night away, and some I'm hearing, actually missed their flights this morning.”
One fan told Henry the match was “a pure battle between two massive giants of rugby”.
“Every team is going to be scared of either of those teams – no one wants to meet us,” he said.
“This is our 16th game unbeaten – we want to get to 20.”
Well this escalated quickly… @gavreilly @NewstalkFM #RWC2023 #Ireland #IRE #IREvSA pic.twitter.com/SmSsKWEI0c
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) September 24, 2023
The fan, who has lived in Copenhagen for the last 30 years, said Ireland’s strategy against the ‘Nuke Squad’ paid off.
“What I loved about today was the first 10 minutes went awry but we stuck to our game, and it paid off, we got the points we needed,” he said.
“Don’t be nasty.” Wait for it…. #Ireland #RSAvIRE @gavreilly @NewstalkFM #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/gF8RjokxfU
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) September 24, 2023
Another fan said he was “drained” after the game.
“I think it’s the best atmosphere I've ever been at a rugby game, especially after full time,” he said.
“You didn’t realise the number of Irish that travelled when you saw when all the South Africans left the stadium and all the Irish were left.”
Many fans said they were flying back in two weeks’ time to see Ireland play against Scotland on October 7th.
“Other teams are looking at us, and they're a little bit scared,” one fan said.
“Well I was happy enough but.” The lads from Offaly give their take on the match. @NewstalkFM #RSAvIRE @gavreilly pic.twitter.com/TbhrDmJTOd
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) September 24, 2023
Another fan argued, however, that Ireland needs to shape up its game if it wants to see another victory.
“We won, which is great, but it was very messy,” he said.
“The scrums needed to be tidied up, the line up definitely needs to be tidied up.”
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