Rugby World Cup: Ireland v South Africa an instant classic for ...

Marc Hinton is Stuff’s senior rugby writer in France to cover the Rugby World Cup

OPINION: Signature match dripping with intensity and intricacy that this Rugby World Cup has been crying out for? Or an esoteric, one-dimensional game of international rugby featuring just two tries, 27 minutes of ball in play and largely bereft of high-level entertainment?

If you’re a true rugby fan you’re almost definitely in the former camp; if you’re a casual, floating sports observer, maybe under 40 years of age with a fat wallet and low attention span, you may have a different view. Glass half-full, or half-empty?

These are the two sides of the riveting Pool B contest at Stade de France on Sunday (NZT), won 13-8 by Ireland over South Africa, that many believe was a preview of the final which will play out at the same venue on October 28. If so, we are in for a treat.

In a heavyweight contest of epic proportions, the No 1 side on the planet defeated the defending world champions in a massive arm-wrestle that ticked almost all the boxes as a true rugby matchup. The collisions were huge, tackles bone-shuddering and tactical nuances intriguing. Both teams muscled up, and hit with considerable force, yet played with incredible discipline and accuracy. There were no cards, no TMOs jumping in with calls to look at accidental head collisions, and no game-changing officiating decisions because of poor technique.

Aurelien Morissard/AP

Ireland celebrate an epic victory over South Africa in their Rugby World Cup Pool B match in Paris.

It should be added it was a match brilliantly refereed by Kiwi Ben O’Keeffe who demonstrated palpably you can rule to the letter of the law, yet still let a fabulous contest unfold as it should. He was strict when he needed to be, yet let the players decide this captivating contest.

Both teams found it difficult to score tries simply because both defended with incredible pluck, accuracy and intent. The Boks had 30 dominant tackles, for goodness sake. Ireland just seven. Yet Andy Farrell’s side kept the South Africans out when it really mattered, soaking up a raft of opportunities and near-misses to keep their line all-but intact.

Both teams had their wobbles. The Irish lineout was shaky early, and they should have accumulated more from their surging opening quarter. The Boks’ goal-kicking shortcomings undoubtedly cost them dearly (more Manie Libbok’s misses than Faf de Klerk’s), some scrum uncertainties late likewise and they will want to be better themselves when carrying hard in the opponent’s red zone.

The Irish breakdown was wonderful. The Boks’ power carriers thunderous.

It was undoubtedly a contest the aficionados, the cognoscenti, the true rugbyheads lapped up with relish. I watched it in a crowded pub in Lyon filled with Welsh fans. They could not take their eyes off it, and you could see them thinking to themselves, “if only we had a team capable of playing rugby like this”.

Christophe Ena/AP

Ireland's Andrew Porter, right, and South Africa's Jasper Wiese indulge in some physical stuff at Stade de France.

This was the defining contest of the World Cup so far, and it sends a clear message to hosts France, the ambitious All Blacks and anyone else with hopes of lifting the golden trophy at the end of this tournament. To do that, you are going to have to find a level that will enable you to compete with these two giants of the game.

But was there a downside? Was it entertaining enough? Would it have captured the floating fan’s attention?

Maybe. Maybe not. That ball-in-play time was low, so too the try-count. There were a lot of technical decisions, and contests that were less easy on the eye than they were delicious in their context.

Real rugby fans loved this contest. But are they the people World Rugby, the sport in general, are trying to win over?

Well, they’re important, because it is they who buy the tickets, tune in their TVs and devour the content around the sport. They’re the lifeblood.

But rugby, which calls itself a global sport, but really isn’t, has wider ambitions. There are still only eight to 10 genuinely competitive nations that line up at these World Cups. There is still a large divide (though it does appear to be closing marginally) between the Haves and Have Nots of the game. There are still too many mismatches for this to be described as a genuinely compelling global tournament.

If rugby wants to become, like football and basketball, a true world game then it must grow its appeal. Maybe part of that is educating the casual fan that epic contests like Ireland-South Africa are to be savoured, just as a 1-0 match in football can be every bit as compelling as a 5-4 one.

But also maybe the game needs to flow more, to showcase its skills and athleticism more, to have more tries, more highlight plays – essentially offer more ball-in-play magic than it did on Saturday night at Stade de France.

That route is a complex one in a sport with an impossible lawbook. But in the meantime perhaps we all just need to take a deep breath and smell the roses. This was real rugby, and it was terrific and tense and taut and tumultuous until the final whistle.