South Africa 27
Ireland 20
THE STADIUM ANNOUNCER at Loftus Versfeld tempted fate by playing Zombie for the first time as early as the 20th minute, clearly getting excited with the Boks in the ascendency, but the South African fans were able to roar it out again at the end of this absorbing battle.
Rassie Erasmus’ men enjoyed a victorious homecoming in Pretoria but Ireland made them work hard for it, refusing to go away despite a performance that featured plenty of errors.
Ireland were back in the fight with five minutes to go as Conor Murray’s score drew them within five points but an error from James Lowe handed the Boks a five-metre scrum and their almost comically powerful penalty try sealed the deal. The Bomb Squad had their say.
Andy Farrell’s men did grab their third try through Ryan Baird but it was too little, too late. Ultimately, the Springboks were thankful for a strong opening quarter that featured a classy Kurt-Lee Arendse try and had them 10-3 to the good.
Erasmus’ side also benefited from bringing all six of their bench forwards off the bench in the 50th minute, lending them plenty of power in the closing stages.
Ireland did lots of good things in this game, scoring a brilliant first-half try through debutant Jamie Osborne and demonstrating their usual levels of resilience to stay in the fight throughout but they will feel their error count was too high in attack before a flourish in the final quarter. A couple of poor lineouts and that scrum demolition job by the Boks will also come in for critical review. Overall, they didn’t hit the heights they are capable of.
More positively, Craig Casey had an impressive game at scrum-half until he was forced off with a nasty head injury, while Caelan Doris was a leader by example. Osborne did well in a 50-minute outing at fullback and Garry Ringrose was impactful off the bench.
There are injury concerns for Ireland ahead of the second Test in Durban next weekend, with hooker Dan Sheehan and centre Robbie Henshaw forced off at half time, while Casey is a big worry after receiving extensive treatment on the pitch.
Still, Farrell can feel his side showed enough to suggest they will give the second Test a real crack. We’re in for another entertaining clash.
But the Boks will believe they can be better too. Their new attack under Tony Brown was impressive in Pretoria, featuring far more width and some slick passing, but it wasn’t error-free. They’ll feel they can tune up for next Saturday.
The opening was ominous for Ireland as Boks number eight Kwagga Smith stripped Joe McCarthy of the ball on the first Irish attack and then the home side scored on their first real attacking possession.
It was a stunning try that showed their talk about being more expansive was true. Pieter-Steph du Toit surged down the right initially and offloaded inside, then hooker Bongi Mbonambi swept a pass out the back as the Boks swung the ball wide to the left where Kolisi’s slick catch-pass sent Arendse scorching away before he stepped back inside Osborne to dot down. Pollard converted and Ireland were 7-0 down after just four minutes.
Ireland soon had a chance to respond down the other end but McCarthy knocked on captain O’Mahony’s pass off the deck as they pounded the Boks’ tryline. But Crowley was able to reduce the deficit from the tee in the 13th minute when Ox Nché was pinged for not rolling away.
McCarthy was guilty of the same offence soon after and Pollard made it a seven-point game again, while Dan Sheehan then had a crooked throw into the next Irish lineout.
Just 20 minutes in, the stadium announcer decided to play Zombie and the Boks were soon burning upfield again. Damian de Allende sat O’Mahony down twice in the space of a couple of seconds, then du Toit went rampaging again before offload to Cheslin Kolbe, who made it into the Irish 22 only for Craig Casey to force an important knock-on from opposite number Faf de Klerk.
But Ireland soon invited more pressure as the impactful Doris won a turnover only fo Tadhg Beirne to throw a wild pass back into his own 22 fom where Crowley kicked straight into touch. Lineout Boks and they turned it into three points as Pollard punished Andrew Porter for playing de Klerk while off his feet.
Trailing 13-3, Ireland finally got some momentum as Doris and van der Flier made big carries, the second of them leading to a kickable penalty that Crowley pulled wide. It was a frustrating miss but Farrell’s men did score in the next passage.
They appeared to have lost momentum with their carrying in the Boks 22 but Crowley picked out a classy bridge pass to Sheehan wide on the left, where the hooker played a sublime behind-the-back offload to Lowe. The Ireland wing did superbly not to get knocked into touch by Kolbe and offload inside before Jesse Kriel smashed him. Osborne did very well to reel in the offload and dive into the left corner.
Crowley couldn’t convert from the touchline and Ireland went into the break at 13-8 after Pollard missed with a long range shot at goal after Porter was penalised for playing de Klerk from an offside position.
Ireland were under the pump almost immediately after the break, Bundee Aki conceding a breakdown penalty as the Boks’ wide game continued to cause stress.
Erasmus’ men went into the corner but Ireland defended the maul superbly and fronted up in the ensuing phases before Beirne picked off de Klerk’s loose pass. Frustratingly, replacement hooker Rónan Kelleher – on for Sheehan at half time – swiftly conceded a penalty for kicking the ball out of a ruck but Pollard was wide again from a central position.
Ireland seemed determined to invite more pressure, McCarthy unable to hold a Kelleher lineout throw on their own 22-metre line, allowing Smith to snaffle the loose ball. South Africa went wide but there was relief as Arendse knocked-on out on the left.
Erasmus sent on all six of his replacement forwards in the 50th minute but their immediate impact was to infringe at the scrum. Ireland couldn’t take advantage as Beirne knocked-on but Josh van der Flier’s jackal turnover ended the Boks’ counter-attack.
The next time Ireland came knocking in the South African 22, Doris carrying well once again, it was sub hooker Malcolm Marx who pounced for a trademark breakdown turnover penalty.
The Boks flooded onto the attack again but they were loose in possession and Ireland appeared to have scored a stunning counter-attack try as Aki and Kelleher combined for a turnover before Casey sent Lowe scorching away down the left to finish in the 58th minute.
But it was chalked off on TMO review for Kelleher hooking the ball backwards while off his feet, and Pollard had another shot at goal from distance. He was wide and as the game entered the final quarter, Ireland still trailed by five.
Casey soon came up with a cracking 50:22 but Ireland’s lineout delivery was sloppy then Casey knocked-on as he looked to clear the ball, suffering a nasty head injury as RG Snyman drove him backwards and his head collided with the ground. There was a lengthy pause as Casey was treated and stretchered off.
When the game resumed, the Springboks’ relatively fresh front five came up with a muscular scrum penalty.
It looked like Pollard had made another mistake as his line kick didn’t find touch but Lowe’s attempt to keep the ball in play was disastrous as it bounced up for Kolbe to nudge ahead, hurdle replacement fullback Ciarán Frawley who had slid in, then gleefully win the race to dot down.
There was another lengthy TMO review to check if Lowe had actually landed in touch before batting the ball infield, but the try stood and Pollard put his kicking boots back on to make it 20-8.
Ireland had another chance in the Boks’ 22 with 10 minutes to go but du Tout rose at the front of the lineout to pick off Kelleher’s throw. Pollard’s exit kick was poor, though, and Ireland kept coming.
Farrell’s men battered at the Boks’ tryline as the South African discipline slipped, Arendse being sin-binned for one infringement too many, but Doris was held up over the tryline as Ireland laid siege again.
Finally, the Boks cracked from the goal-line drop-out as Ireland unveiled a clever new variation on a play they’ve used before. Doris returned from the kick, sub tighthead Finlay Bealham played a slick inside pass to the hidden Kelleher, who burst through and fed Conor Murray back on the inside to score.
Ireland were firmly back in it as Crowley converted for 20-15 with less than five to go but Lowe made a big error off Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s restart.
The long restart looked like it was going to go all the way dead but Lowe decided to try and catch it, spilled into his in-goal area and was blocked down by Kolbe as he tried to kick it back out.
Scrum five to the Boks and the Bomb Squad made their presence felt as they marched Ireland’s pack back over their own tryline for a dominant penalty try. Kelleher was sin-binned for good measure and that was that for the contest.
Baird finished impressively in the dying minutes but there was no time for Ireland to find an equaliser.
South Africa scorers:
Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Penalty try
Conversions: Handré Pollard [2 from 2]
Penalties: Handré Pollard [2 from 5]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Jamie Osborne, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray
Conversions: Jack Crowley [1 from 2]
Penalties: Jack Crowley [1 from 2]
SOUTH AFRICA: Willie le Roux; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse (yellow card ’74); Handré Pollard (Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ’74), Faf de Klerk (Grant Williams ’59); Ox Nché (Gerhard Steenekamp ’50), Bongi Mbonambi (Malcolm Marx ’50), Frans Malherbe (Vincent Koch ’50); Eben Etzebeth (Salmaan Moerat ’50), Franco Mostert (RG Snyman ’50); Siya Kolisi (captain) (Marco van Staden ’50), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith.
IRELAND: Jamie Osborne (Ciarán Frawley ’51); Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw (Garry Ringrose ‘HT), Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey (Conor Murray ’64); Andrew Porter (Cian Healy – blood ’54 to ’63, permanent ’74), Dan Sheehan (Rónan Kelleher ‘HT (yellow card ’78)), Tadhg Furlong (Finlay Bealham ’63); Joe McCarthy (James Ryan ’50), Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (captain) (Ryan Baird ’50), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Referee: Luke Pearce [RFU].
