Rugby World Cup 1995 I On this day: Chester Williams shines for Springboks, Ireland wilt once more in quarter-finals

Ireland’s inability to advance past World Cup quarter-finals is fresh in our minds after their dramatic exit at the hands of New Zealand in 2023, but it is hardly anything new.

When the men from the Emerald Isle lost 36-12 to France on this day in 1995, it was their third consecutive exit at the last-eight stage of a World Cup. Mind you, there had been only two previous World Cups — the tournament was launched in 1987.

So, the trend of Ireland losing quarter-finals was entrenched from the word go and to this day they have not got the monkey of their backs.

Truly not much has changed because, like 2023, the 1995 Ireland team looked strong in the pool games. They had given the imperious All Blacks a fright in one game, had been explosive against Wales in another, only to fizzle out against France.

The game was played at Kings Park in Durban and proved to one of the tournament’s less memorable affairs. The French looked disinterested and Ireland were flat. The first half ended 12-12, with centre Thierry Lacroix kicking four penalties and Irish flyhalf Eric Elwood matching him.

The huge French pack was in complete control, especially in the line-outs where Oliver Roumat and Abdelatif Benazzi ruled the air. The Irish buckled as Lacroix landed another four penalties before late tries were scored by captain and wing Phillippe Saint-Andre and fellow wing Emile Ntamack.

On the same day but up on the Highveld at Ellis Park, the Springboks hosted Western Samoa in a ferocious match. Like Canada had done in Gqeberha, the Samoans understood that they could not beat the Boks in a fair contest and played with scant regard for the laws, notably those governing tackling.

If this game had been played today, nearly all of the Samoa side would have been in the sin bin.

The match will be best remembered for Chester Williams celebrating his return to the Bok squad with four fine tries. The Black Pearl had been on course for the start of the World Cup but had suffered a hamstring injury in the Boks’ warm-up game against none other than Western Samoa.

Williams was replaced in the squad by Pieter Hendriks. When the latter was suspended for his role in the Battle of Boet Erasmus, it opened the door for the recovered Williams to reclaim his spot.

Williams scored two tries in each half to write himself into the record books — no Springbok had ever scored that many tries in a Test match.

There were further tries by Mark Andrews and Chris Rossouw in the 42-14 win, with right wing Gavin Johnson landing three conversions and two penalties. That day Joel Stransky had been out with a niggle and Hennie le Roux moved from centre to flyhalf, with Christiaan Scholtz called up to the midfield.

The Boks comfortably won through to the semi-finals but it came at a cost thanks to the stiff-arm tackling of the Pacific Islanders. There were serious injuries to Andre Joubert (hand), Andrews (ribs), Ruben Kruger (shoulder) and Kobus Wiese (knee).

The race was on to get those players fit for the semi-final against France and it was a miracle that all of them recovered sufficiently to play. It was a frantic week for the medical team.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and Joubert and Andrews spent much of the week sitting in a (divers) decompression chamber. This was novel way to speed up recovery, and it worked.