Pádraig Hoare: Irish hearts are broken but our love for these rugby heroes will go on

'Men like Johnny Sexton may sit in the stands from now on, but those who come after him will be privileged to know what unconditional love feels like'

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE: Josh Van der Flier, Garry Ringrose, and Caelan Doris were among the Ireland players consoled on the sideline by family members after being put out of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

For a titanic 80 minutes, 30-plus men stiffened the sinews, summoned up the blood, and disguised fair nature with hard-favoured rage, in what will surely go down in history as one of the all-time great contests in any sport.

Shakespeare himself would have struggled to write such drama, as Ireland and New Zealand mauled, pushed, pulled, and ran until their bodies were ravaged by sheer exhaustion, driven on by a sea of green and black as the roars from the stands reached supersonic levels.