Replace substitutions in hyperlinks with their contents

def apply(self):
        """Replace substitutions in hyperlinks with their contents"""
        # In this phase, we replace the substitutions in hyperlinks
        # with the contents of the sub-nodes introduced during phase 1.
        # We also remove those temporary nodes from the tree.
        subst_re = re.compile(self.subst_pattern)

        # Apply the substitutions to hyperlink references.
        for link in self.document.traverse(nodes.reference):
            substitutions = link.get('varlinks')
            if not substitutions:
                continue

            replacer = self._replace(substitutions, link.children, 1)
            link['refuri'] = subst_re.sub(replacer, link['refuri'])
            content = subst_re.sub(replacer, link[0])
            # Cleanup the temporary nodes and recreate the node's content.
            link.clear()
            del link['varlinks']
            link.append(nodes.Text(content))

        # Do the same with hyperlink targets.
        for link in self.document.traverse(nodes.target):
            substitutions = link.get('varlinks')
            if not substitutions:
                continue

            replacer = self._replace(substitutions, link.children, 0)
            link['refuri'] = subst_re.sub(replacer, link['refuri'])
            # Cleanup the temporary nodes.
            link.clear()
            del link['varlinks']