Ronan O'Gara: They smile at Ireland in that pat-on-the-head sort of way

I come around to asking the same question – are the IRFU digging deep enough on this conundrum? It warrants a serious deep dive into how our World Cup cycles can be better. It hasn’t worked so far.

WORLD CUP CYCLES: I come around to asking the same question – are the IRFU digging deep enough on this conundrum? It warrants a serious deep dive into how our World Cup cycles can be better. It hasn’t worked so far. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

GOT A grumpy flight home from Toulon to La Rochelle on Saturday to catch the last half an hour of South Africa’s test rugby clinic at the Stade de France. An exhibition in showcasing the importance of the 23-man game teed up by the XV who started softening up the ground and the opposition.

This was textbook stuff. Coming off a Top 14 defeat in Toulon that had moments of appeal and promise offset by inconsistency and falloff, the Springboks were balm for the tormented soul. The worry for everyone watching France-South Africa was had the game continued for another half an hour, the margin was only getting wider. And the ones landing the debilitating blows were playing a man down. As an exercise in alpha male oneupmanship, it doesn’t come with a bigger exclamation mark.