Just when they needed them the most, the Irish support in the Aviva Stadium on Friday night stood up to play the role of the 16th man to help carry their side to victory against Argentina on Friday night.
The matchday atmosphere has come in for a lot of criticism in recent years, but when the going got tough against the Pumas, the home faithful found their voice to help Ireland get back on the winning trail.
“Definitely felt like it was a bit nosier than last week,” said Ireland’s Andrew Porter after the win.
“I’m not sure why. I think it’s just the crowd got a bit more into the game. I’m not sure if the game was a bit more flowing compared to last week.
“I know last week there was a lot of scrums and there was a lot of stoppages in play which kind play a lot into how the crowd can interact with a game. But yeah, definitely felt the crowd today.”
After failing to lay a glove on New Zealand last week, this latest Ireland performance delivered much more punch.
Ireland started on the front foot and they were rewarded for their early endeavours thanks to early tries from Jack Crowley and Mack Hansen.
“I’m not sure if we just got into our flow a little bit more,” continued Porter.
“Obviously, it was a different team, different defence. So yeah. We obviously took our chances in the first half and it paid off. So, maybe that’s why the crowd got into it a bit more and how the crowd a bit more and how we played into it a bit more last week.
“Obviously, we got the two knock downs early in the first half as well which kind of got us good position in their 22 and got us playing good rugby in the first half. Kind of left the foot off the throat in the second half at times. But yeah, it’s definitely an improvement on last week.”
Coming off the back of one of their best ever showings in the Rugby Championship, an Argentina fightback was inevitable.
A late first-half rally almost yielded a try, but a resilient Ireland held them out with some stout defending.
A pivotal moment in the game as Porter explains.
“Yeah, I think it’s kind of make or break of the game. They score and it’s a huge momentum shift. Us keeping them out held the momentum in our favour going into the second half. Yeah, it was a huge defensive effort.
“Obviously, it was kind of a few of penalties given away that kind of put us on a warning which was tough going into the second half and with that the referee was ways going to keep us honest in the second half after that. But yeah, it was a huge effort in the first half defensively. And obviously if it went the other way it would’ve been a huge momentum shift.”
