#south-africa-rugby

#south-africa-rugby

But Andy Farrell is a slick operator and would have circled this date in red on his calendar long before Erasmus and his gang touched down at Dublin Airport. He'll no doubt have a few tricks up his sleeve. Ireland, though, have not managed to kick on in quote the same fashion. The loss of Johnny Sexton is still keenly felt and there is an over reliance on some players who are in the autumn of their careers.

In certain other sports, Brazil's absence from any World Cup would be regarded as downright bizarre. It's not quite like that in rugby, and their women's 15s team created history simply by running on to the turf on Sunday. The first Brazil team to qualify for a men's or women's Rugby World Cup had played just 16 times before this, winning five matches, including a playoff against Colombia last year that sealed qualification.