- Ireland emboldened their world number-one credentials with a tense, but well-deserved 19-16 win against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday
- The Test match was far from a spectacle, but the sides were never going to entertain in a match of such high stakes.
- The Boks were not only let down by a lack of accuracy in the 22, but the absence of a regular goal kicker as the seven points missed was crucial.
At the Aviva Stadium in Dublin
Ireland significantly enhanced their number-one standing in world rugby when they saw off the Springboks 19-16 in a tense Test in Dublin on a cool but comfortable Saturday evening.
Were Ireland the better side? In front of their passionate crowd, they were, and the critical part was their ability to make their chances count.
They struck twice in four minutes just after the half-time break through loose-forward Josh van der Flier and wing Mack Hansen to give Ireland a 10-point buffer that was too much for the Boks to overhaul.
The Boks had more than a decent foothold in the game and did well to score and stay in the game, but the lack of a regular goal-kicker hurt them badly.
The seven points that were missed off the tee by Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe would have swung the game in the Boks’ favour.
Again, the Boks were also guilty of being creatively blunt in the red zone and it’s something they desperately need to fix ahead of next week’s clash against France.
Ireland have not only kept a 10-year home unbeaten streak against the Boks, but have beaten New Zealand and the world champions in the space of a year.
They are indeed a team that has to be taken seriously while the Boks again have something to do, especially when they play catch-up rugby.
The first half was indeed a triumph for both defences as opposing coaches Andy Farrell (Ireland) and Jacques Nienaber (South Africa) are defensive specialists.
Try-scoring opportunities were few and far between as rock-solid defences, despite some inexplicable reads from Bok 13 Jesse Kriel, gave away nothing.
The Boks were able to weather a short storm when fullback Kolbe was yellow-carded by Georgian referee Nika Amushukeli for a dangerous tackle on Ireland’s left-wing Hansen.
In fact, what was odd was the Boks played some decent rugby when they were a man down and should have had points to show for their efforts.
Willemse missed a straightforward penalty in the 20th minute and when they had the ascendancy, the Boks somehow, but rightfully conceded a penalty for sealing off a ruck in the 24th minute.
The frustrating part about the penalty was that it was not only in the 22m, but in front of the poles.
Those were definite points-scoring chances the Boks fluffed, and the vociferous home crowd let them know that the points-scoring trains were missed.
The Boks nearly had a scare in the 31st minute when Willemse’s clearance kick was charged down by Ireland’s hooker Dan Sheehan.
The fleet-footed tight forward nearly beat Kriel to the line, but he knocked the ball on before dotting it down.
The 35th minute of the game saw key injuries on either side.
Ireland, who had lost burly inside centre Stuart McCloskey (an injury replacement for Robbie Henshaw) to a shoulder injury, also lost Test centurion Conor Murray to what looked like a leg injury.
The Boks lost more influence though, with lock Lood de Jager coming off with a shoulder injury that may have tour-long ramifications for him.
That said, both sides were guilty of not using their opportunities adequately, with Ireland’s extended stay in SA’s 22 only earning them a penalty that Johnny Sexton converted in the 36th minute.
The same applied to SA, who couldn’t crack Ireland’s line and even lost a crucial lineout on Ireland’s 5m line.
They needed to rely on a Kolbe penalty to level out the game at the break.
The Irish then taught the Boks a quick lesson on how to capitalise on an opportunity when they scored from a 46th-minute rolling maul with flanker Van der Flier crossing the whitewash in the far left-hand corner.
That meant the Boks had to chase the game, something they’re not good at and four minutes later, Ireland had a 10-point lead.
This time, the try score was Hansen as sloppy work at the breakdown allowed Ireland’s number eight Caelan Doris to pilfer the ball.
With a defensive mismatch, the ball was moved wide quickly and Hansen, like Van der Flier, crossed over in the left-hand corner.
After keeping a first-half clean try-scoring sheet, the Boks had leaked two tries in 10 minutes and when they conceded a scrum penalty in the 55th minute, Ireland knew they’d clinched an important sector of the game.
This advantage, despite conceding a 58th-minute scrum penalty, was rammed home when they not only successfully fractured the resulting maul, but also won the ensuing penalty.
That meant Ireland was in the pound seats for the last quarter, but the Boks found an attacking voice, especially with Kwagga Smith speeding up the game at the breakdown.
It was a Smith break from a quickly taken penalty that saw the Boks surge deep into Ireland’s 22.
The Boks should have scored, but Ox Nche’s pass was knocked on by an over-eager Willemse, who could have left the ball to his outside players.
Then there was Willie le Roux, who excelled at broken play the Boks were on the attack.
His variations at 10 kept the Irish busy.
The Irish could only resist for so long and when Franco Mostert crashed over in the 67th minute, the Boks were rewarded.
Kolbe, however, missed the conversion and along with Willemse’s missed 20th-minute penalty attempt, the Boks were five points short of where they needed to be.
In Test matches where narrow margins are a way of life, those small things matter.
Sexton himself had missed two difficult conversions from a similar position, but when he nailed a 74th-minute penalty that stemmed from a miscued Willemse touch-finder, the Boks needed to score twice to win in the last five minutes.
They needed just a minute and a bit when Kurt-Lee Arendse scored in the corner, but Kolbe missed the tough conversion.
Ireland controversially slowed the game down, but they were in control and when they forced an error from the Boks, they controlled the tempo effectively.
When replacement nine Jamison Gibson-Park booted the ball out, the 50 000 fans erupted in absolute ecstasy.
The battle lines for the Pool B World Cup game in Paris on 23 September have been drawn and it’s Ireland who holds the mental momentum.
Scorers:
Ireland: (6) 19
Tries: Josh van der Flier, Mack Hansen
Penalties: Johnny Sexton (3)
South Africa: (6) 16
Tries: Franco Mostert, Kurt-Lee Arendse
Penalties: Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe
Khanyiso Tshwaku is in Dublin covering the Springboks on their year-end tour
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