Shades of green fade into Grey

Richardt Strauss may have belted out the words to Amhrán na bhFiann rather than those of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika but, when everything was said and done, the Ireland hooker slipped ever so briefly back into his old skin.

It all happened in a split second. None of the 51,000-plus people in the stadium noticed it at the time and Strauss himself undoubtedly performed the act subconsciously as the stadium and adrenalin emptied in sync.

It was only later that his cousin Adriaan spoke of the brief moment when the hookers embraced and performed the ‘Grey Handshake’, a tradition that stretches back nearly 100 years. For a moment, they were two kids back home on the fields of Bloemfontein’s famous rugby academy.