Ireland beat Springboks 25–24 at Kings Park: 4 key takeaways

Ireland edged out the Springboks 25-24 (half-time score 16-6) after yet another nailbiter at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, leaving the two-game series tied 1–1.

It followed a thrilling 27–20 win for the Springboks in Pretoria the week before, which had broken the host’s Irish hoodoo after losses in their three previous meetings against the Six Nations champions and second-ranked team in the world.

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The Durban Test wasn’t perfect for either side and their coaches know there will be much to reflect on before the Springboks play Portugal in Bloemfontein next Saturday, and Ireland take on New Zealand after a break in November.

Here are four takeaways from the game.

Discipline

After a dominant first half, Ireland will only have themselves to blame for numerous lapses in discipline that saw the Springboks first claw their way back and then take a commanding role. The Irish know that they were saved only by Ciaran Frawley’s two superb drop-goals to take the lead back right before the whistle sounded.

Most noteworthy, Irish captain Caelan Doris was sent to the bench for a 10-minute yellow card after dangerous play on Malcolm Marx.

Otherwise, offside, holding on, illegal scrummaging, and other minor infringements stippled the second half and Handré Pollard capitalised with six out of six penalty kicks in those 40 minutes alone.

Pollard made the visitors pay for every mistake but the more critical Irish fans will feel their team nearly threw the game away from a dominant position.

Accurate kicking

Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard missed three penalty kicks at Loftus (thankfully let off the hook by counterpart Jack Crowley’s own plethora of misses). The second Test saw the two number 10s pick up their game, granted they were operating under better kicking conditions.

But the only kicker who will be talked about will be Ireland’s replacement in the back, Ciaran Frawley.

When the Irish were staring down the barrel of Pollard’s .22 Frawley’s first drop-goal with 10 minutes left revitalised their spirits. The second drop-goal was magical.

Whichever team one supports, one has to acknowledge the steely cool resolve he demonstrated in making those decisive kicks. Drop-goals are the hardest kicks in rugby and he knocked over his second in the dying minutes of the game from distance and at an angle, nogal.

In terms of kicking into touch, the Irish shone in the first half. The South Africans kicked splendidly in the second half, the substitutes Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu making it especially difficult for the visitors. More on those two later.

Tackling

While prop Ox Nche showed his value in the scrums and with some solid tackles, he and teammates let a few tackles slip both before and after the first-half try by Connor Murray.

Both sides boast mercurial back lines and forwards who can run, so making or missing tackles can make all the difference in contests as tight as this. Thus the Springboks missing 12 tackles by the 24th minute compared to Ireland’s two, meant the visiting fans expected more to happen whenever their players had ball in hand for the remainder of the match.

And rugby is a game of momentum. The Springboks will be glad their early mistakes were not repeated as acutely in the second half. New assistant coach for defence, Jerry Flannery will be satisfied with that.

A plausible substitute for experience?

The home side’s unchanged match 23 was the most experienced Springbok team to ever take to the field.

The big match temperament of ‘old hands’ was almost enough against the Irish, though it did not mean much in the first half when points were racking up quickly against the home side.

Critics will again point to players on the extended squad list, or off of it, who may have offered something the go-to players didn’t.

For one, recurring calls for fullback Willie le Roux to make room for Damian Willemse and others would have seen some almost pleased when the veteran made way for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu after an early injury. The substitute’s nimble running and pinpoint kicking lit up the second half. Scrumhalf Grant Williams also ran and kicked well after coming on for Faf de Klerk.

South Africa’s most-capped centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende however, were solid in their attacking and defensive play, which vindicated their selection.