Jamie Osborne — 9: Won every aerial duel, led the team with 17 carries, and made good use of his left boot even down at sea level. Integral to Conor Murray’s opening try as he picked a great line and popped the ball outside to Robbie Henshaw. Made a try-saving tackle after Jack Crowley was charged down in the first half. Exceptionally polished display on his second cap with his sole error being the misjudgement of a South African exit in the second half.

⁠Calvin Nash — 7: An improved outing on last week. Tidy all-round, defensively sound after a couple of missed tackles in the first half, and kept a few attacks down the right edge ticking over without ever cutting loose.

⁠Garry Ringrose — 7: Like Nash, fell off a few early tackles but there does seem to be a better balance to Ireland’s midfield when he starts. His influence on their defensive shape remains profound and Andy Farrell’s men simply don’t concede many tries when he’s on the field.

⁠Robbie Henshaw — 8: Set the tone among the backs with a kind of maniacal physicality and while he carried into a brick wall all day, he was equally resolute when the ball was moving the other direction. Led the backline — almost two-fold across the board — with 11 tackles. Nice support line and neat assist for Murray’s try.

James Lowe — 8: Made 10 carries, seven passes, two offloads and two clean breaks — and this was Lowe on a relatively quiet day. Provided Ireland with momentum at key junctures, including his winning of the five-metre scrum that yielded what proved to be three pivotal points on the stroke of half-time.

Jack Crowley — 7: Persistently took the ball to the line and mostly got lit the hell up, but not without showing typical touches of class in his distribution. Murray’s try wouldn’t have happened without his carry and pop inside to Osborne. Mixed bag with kicks from hand under constant pressure — some excellent decisions and a couple of poor ones. Spotless from the tee after missing three from five last week.

Conor Murray — 9: Put some respect on his name. What a rugby player.

⁠Andrew Porter — 7: Was unfortunate to concede the scrum penalty he did as Tadhg Furlong came under savage pressure on the tighthead side. Gave away a cheap penalty at the breakdown in his own right which cost Ireland three points. But titanic in the loose, thundering into Boks with the kind of menace that Ireland lacked last Saturday and making 10 tackles to complement his seven carries.

⁠Rónan Kelleher — 8: The Leinster hooker had some excellent cameos for Ireland off the bench in the Six Nations but this was him back to his 2021 best. He got through a mountain of work, making 10 carries and 10 tackles, virtually all of which were blood-curdling. Spotless darts in a much-improved Irish lineout and even stole one off the back of a Boks’ throw.

⁠Tadhg Furlong — 5: Decidedly second best in his personal duel with Ox Nche in the scrum. Just a miserable day among countless great ones, and his scrummaging was probably not helped by an apparent hamstring issue either.

Joe McCarthy — 8: Played like a Bok. Two big turnovers of the South African maul. Powerful line-break in the first half. Beastly at the breakdown when Ireland came under fire.

James Ryan — 8: Also played like a Bok, delivering one of his most impactful Irish performances in the last 12 months. There was a snarl to Ryan throughout and he made the second most tackles of any Irish player with 12. Stole two South African lineouts just after half-time, although a poor offside on 52 minutes cost his side three points. Went off four minutes later.

Tadhg Beirne — 7: Did well in the lineout, carried hard albeit for minimal return as was the case with most Irish forwards, and provided some nice link-play when not protecting Irish ball at the breakdown.

Josh van der Flier — 7: A typically Trojan effort as he chopped down no fewer than 15 Boks. Essentially performed the role that Will Connors was chosen to do ahead of him on three big occasions for Leinster this season.

⁠Caelan Doris (captain) — 8: Would have been a 9 were it not for his yellow card which was both silly and costly — but Doris otherwise picked up where he left off last week. Saved a try on Ireland’s left edge just after half-time with a key tackle as his side scrambled desperately. Made 57 metres off 14 carries, numbers comparable only to Lowe (57m off 10) and Osborne (56m off 17). Outshone a serious operator in Kwagga Smith for the second test on the spin.

Replacements:

Rob Herring (Kelleher 65′) — 6: Inherited a lineout that referee Karl Dickson had almost allowed descend to farce but steadied himself to nail his throws, including in the lead-up to Frawley’s game-winning drop-goal.

Cian Healy (Porter 56′) — 6: Spent the majority of his 25 minutes at the breakdown where he was needed. Conceded one penalty in the scrum, but sure who didn’t?
⁠
Finlay Bealham (Furlong 44′) — 7: See above, although the penalty awarded against Bealham in the scrum was a nonsensical decision made either by Dickson or his touch judge on that side. Bealham made six impactful tackles to boot.
⁠
Ryan Baird (Ryan 56′) — 6: A quiet cameo by his standards but took two Irish lineouts cleanly.

⁠Peter O’Mahony (Van der Flier 56′) — 6: Made a nuisance of himself with five tackles in the final 25 minutes.

⁠Caolin Blade (Murray 59′) — 7: A poor box kick gave South Africa an easy out with 15 minutes to go but Blade was otherwise sharp. He bought a penalty by attacking blind into an offside defender and the precision of his pass for Frawley’s winning drop-goal shouldn’t be overlooked.

⁠Ciarán Frawley (Crowley 59′) — 9: Etched himself into Irish rugby lore with two huge drop-goals just weeks after a couple of similar opportunities went awry in Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat to Toulouse. The first, from a South African goal-line drop-out, was an inspired call, dragging Ireland back to within two points at a point in which they seemed capable of creating nothing. The second was impressive not only for its context but for its creation, which was all Frawley as he ran a nice arc and chipped the perfect ball into grass in the South African backfield which eventually yielded Ireland’s final attack from a lineout. No Irish rugby fan old enough to remember will ever forget Frawley’s heroics in Durban.
⁠
Stuart McCloskey (Nash 61′) — 7: Quiet-ish considering Ireland had virtually no meaningful possession for most of the 20 minutes in which he was on the field. Got the ball rolling for the move which led to the aforementioned lineout in the 79th minute. Earns a bonus point for getting stuck into the Boks when they pleaded for a non-existent obstruction on Cheslin Kolbe after Frawley’s match-winner.