Adrenaline yields to dominance

By the 20-minute mark, the buttocks of the nation had retreated from the edges of our seats and we collectively settled back to enjoy the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. Much as the All Blacks delivered plenty to admire, it was at the cost of a purer, more adrenalised, sense of excitement, leaving us to admire the qualities underpinning the team’s dominance of the hapless Irish.

It felt good because, as you might have noticed from time to time, there’s much to be said for pleasure, especially in pursuit of a title for which our country aches above anything else in sport.

But pleasure shouldn’t be a goal in itself. More a byproduct of the ardent pursuit of a worthy goal.

Like supremacy? Yes, but who really wants the Rugby World Cup to be some sort of tedious victory parade?

All right. In truth we could live with that, certainly in preference to quarterfinal exits, however thrilling such an encounter might be. We do have a bias towards success.

But the exquisite dynamics of close-fought, titanic encounters are far from optional extras if the code is to have a healthy future. The fact the Irish had twice beaten the All Blacks in their previous three encounters heightened the sense of anticipation.

So, to a much lesser extent, had some of the puffy rhetoric that attaches to such encounters.

So cheers to the Daily Mail’s Rory Keen for his build-up offering: ‘‘The time is right for Ireland to shock New Zealand ... there is still a sneering arrogance from the All Blacks and they could be in for a horrible night.’’

Tempting as it is to seize upon, even lap up, such provocations, the respect shown the All Blacks is something we are at risk of treating as commonplace to the point of trivialising it.

The expressions of admiration from the international media have been nothing if not sincere.

Such was the one-sidedness of the encounter that The Guardian ran the headline ‘‘Almighty All Blacks lay waste to the side that inspired their rebuild’’.

Another thing; the Irish singing over the haka was not disrespectful. Not the least little bit.

The haka is not a fragile thing. Certainly not something any of us should be insisting be received with mute decorum.

Absolutely it is part of our culture, but no more so than singing is for the Irish.

And for some to insist that the greenclad crowd should have at least waited in silence until it was completed is to overlook the small point that there’s specific pre-match time allocated for the haka, but none at all for any reply.

Different teams and their supporters are fully entitled to react as they wish.

But we should file that one under the category of entirely appropriate.

After the defending champions’ 46-14 win, the emotions of the Irish were touching.

This was a deeply painful failure and retiring captain Rory Best, who has worn his country’s colours for 14 years, was a particularly compelling figure, joined on the park by his three children, and receiving respect from the applauding All Blacks, and love from his compatriots – albeit laced with sympathy of a sort to which no captain aspires.

... the Irish singing over the haka was not disrespectful. Not the least little bit. The haka is not a fragile thing. Certainly not something any of us should be insisting be received with mute decorum.