Ireland will be hoping for a Hollywood ending

When Ireland last played the Springboks at Newlands, actor Colin Farrell was in the visiting team's dressing room after the game commiserating with his countrymen about an unlucky defeat. Those were heady days for a 28-year-old Farrell (he turned 40 yesterday). He was an unknown in our parts and able to drink in the bars of Cape Town's Long Street, a short stroll from his billet at the Mount Nelson, without attracting the paparazzi.