A rush of blood, a fit of the giggles and the end of a fairytale gave plenty to talk about as the curtain came down on the RWC 2019 quarter-finals.
TOKYO, 20 Oct - A selection of the best quotes from Rugby World Cup 2019 on day two of the knockout stages on Sunday.
"Of course he feels bad about what he has done and it is part of rugby... The word cruel is appropriate."
- France captain Guilhem Guirado on Sebastien Vahaamahina's red card against Wales, above.
"It was a critical moment when we were down to 14 and they went for three points and hit the post. I think if they had gone to the corner and got some success it would have possibly been game over. We were very relieved to get to half-time and consolidate things."
- Wales coach Warren Gatland on the fine line between success and failure - the width of a post in the case of a missed penalty by Romain Ntamack just before half-time.
"I said the same thing as he did. Looking forward to seeing you and win, lose or draw, we'll have a beer afterwards."
- New Zealand coach Steve Hansen on texts exchanged with Eddie Jones, coach of semi-final opponents England.
"The Irish are some of the best travellers in the world, they don't mind going anywhere for a party and they enjoy it. Kiwis are not quite so boisterous even if we don’t mind a party."
- Some consolation for Ireland, from Hansen.
"South Africa were just too physical - this is what finals footy is about. They just bashed the shit out of us.”
- Japan winger Lomano Lemeki offers a very frank appraisal of the Springboks' victory.
"They’re all about seven-foot-five. Besides the half-back, everyone else was a giant. They demolished our lineout and scrums at times. What can you do? You can’t ask to be bigger."
- Lemeki again, telling it how it is.
"I was behind the last man and I started laughing because the forwards were driving so well I couldn't yell. It was amazing."
- Springbok scrum-half and player of the match Faf de Klerk was delighted to benefit from his pack's grunt work by scoring a try in the 26-3 win over Japan.
"We're everyone's second favourite team. It's been amazing, that support.”
- Japan second-row Luke Thompson knows the Brave Blossoms won hearts even in defeat.
"It's deja vu all over again, we shot ourselves in the foot and New Zealand capitalised on it. It's hard enough playing against them with our A game, never mind our D game."
- It's as easy as A-B-C for Keith Earls to analyse what went wrong in Ireland's defeat by New Zealand.
"A lot of people when I was growing up said I couldn’t do a lot of things, I wouldn’t amount to anything. My aim is to try and inspire the next generation like the 2003 lot did."
- England prop Kyle Sinckler, who was brought up in a tough part of south London, on how rugby helped him to prove people wrong, and his aim for the future.
RNS ar/bo/sw
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