This was blood and thunder rugby at its best

From the moment Ireland’s Call thundered out inside the Millennium Stadium it was obvious something special was in the air. Never had a chorus of anything but Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau reverberated under the roof of Cardiff’s iconic venue to such deafening levels.

The green hoards descended upon Cardiff to make this World Cup tie feel as though it was being played in Dublin. The irony is that there were undoubtedly more Irish fans here among the 72,163 attendance than would have been at the Aviva Stadium. And with the roof closed, the decibel levels rose to unprecedented levels.

“I can barely hear myself think,” quipped Jamie Heaslip as he strained to hear the questions in his pitch-side interview after the game.