South Africa 27 Ireland 20 (FT)
We’ll leave you with John O’Sullivan’s match report from Pretoria. See you next week in Durban!
[ Courageous Ireland performance comes up short as South Africa take first TestOpens in new window ]
In all seriousness, Ireland will be both mildly pleased and bitterly frustrated that, if their famed attack fired just 10 or so per cent better, they could easily have won that game off the back of their at times heroic second half defence. The late try for Conor Murray was arguably the only passage of play where they had quick ball, multiple running threats and perfectly timed short passes which caught out South Africa’s blitz.
They can pick holes, it’s just a case of stringing more of that together next week. If you wanted to make excuses, you could say they haven’t played together as an attacking unit since March, whereas South Africa did have a game against Wales recently at Twickenham.
Meanwhile, there is good news (if of an anti-Anglo football persuasion) that Switzerland are coming very close to knocking England out of the Euros.
It is something that might get lost in the narrative about TMO decisions and the frantic finish, but for the opening quarter South Africa’s new attack under Tony Brown stressed Ireland massively in the first quarter. They recovered and especially in the second half looked much better when dealing with it, still, O’Mahony had a few interesting things to say about it.
We knew with Tony Brown coming in there was going to be a tweak obviously. Certainly they’re playing a bit more expansively, they’re more than capable footballers to do it. They put us under pressure with their depth behind the line. We’ll have a look.
— Peter O'Mahony
Tough battle. We knew it was going to be very difficult here. There’s a lot of positives to take out of our performance but little bits here and there, playing against a side as good as this, they’re going to punish you.
— Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony
The third and final nail in the coffin also involved Lowe. Murray’s try gave Ireland hope going into the last five minutes. Off the kick-off after that score, Lowe probably should have let the ball travel, it looked to be going dead. Instead, he tried to gather, it flicked his hand and the ‘Boks got a scrum. The Bomb Squad lived up to their reputation and blitzed the set-piece, leading to a game-clinching penalty try.
Secondly, Lowe’s moment of brilliance ultimately cost Ireland. He kept the ball in play brilliantly off a Pollard penalty to touch. However, Ireland let the ball bounce and with Kolbe chasing, he pounced for an opportunistic score.
However, it looked on the replay like Lowe was in touch as the ball brushed his leg, meaning it should have been a lineout instead of a try. The TMO didn’t see the video evidence as conclusive, so the try stood.
Where to even start with that? South Africa were the better attacking side in the first 20 minutes, but from then on, both sides were poor with ball in hand. The breakdown was a mess, there were errors aplenty with massive hits on both sides.
Ultimately, if Ireland had their multi-phase, multi-option attack of old firing, they could well have won that such was the strength of their defence in the second half.
As it is, the game turned on three moments. Firstly, a stray Kelleher boot kicked the ball out of a ruck, allowing Lowe to ultimately score. It didn’t look intentional, but it probably was the right call. It denied Ireland from levelling things at 13-13 with the conversion to come.
Full-time: South Africa 27 Ireland 20
Jesse Kriel comes flying out of the line to put a huge hit in on Ringrose. The ball falls loose and that is that. South Africa hold on for the win they deserve.
The stadium DJ blares out Zombie from the PA. South Africa are revelling in this!
TRY RYAN BAIRD
80 mins: Wow, we’re not done yet. Baird claims the restrart and from there Ireland break. They go left to right, a long ball from Nash bouncing to Lowe. He offloads brilliantly to Baird who dives over in the corner.
Just because we haven’t had enough drama, the ball falls off the tee for Crowley meaning he needs to take a drop goal for the conversion from the touchline. Needless to say, he misses, but there is enough time for the restart.
South Africa 27 Ireland 20
PENALTY TRY SOUTH AFRICA
The comeback was fun while it lasted. South Africa demolish the Irish scrum and Luke Pearce runs under the sticks. Kelleher will spend the last few minutes in the bin after being singled out as the culprit.
South Africa 27 Ireland 15
76 mins: Just as the game looks to be on, it’s dead again. The kick-off looks to be going dead, but Lowe tries to gather. He spills it over his own in goal and his kick is then charged down dead. Had he not touched that, it would have gone out and Ireland had a scrum on halfway. Instead, South Africa have the put-in 5m from the Irish line.
TRY CONOR MURRAY
75 mins: After offering next to no attacking threat all day, Ireland cut through from deep. A beautiful inside ball from BEalham sends Kelleher through the gap. South Africa picked the decoy of Healy, opting for the wrong man, opening up the gap. Murray is on his left shoulder to take the scoring pass from Kelleher and score under the posts. Crowley converts quickly.
South Africa 20 Ireland 15
HELD UP!
Ireland are furious. Doris works his way over but Pearce emphatically says no, it’s held-up. Doris screams at him to check. Pearce isn’t happy with the reaction but he will check. Crucially, given the no try call, there needs to be conclusive evidence of a score.
NO TRY! There was a split second where the ball might have brushed the whitewash, but TMO Ben Whitehouse makes his decision quickly. That one probably warranted another, slower look. Play restarts with a goal line drop.
YELLOW CARD KURT-LEE ARENDSE
That’s an early card from Pearce. Two or three penalties inside the 22 and he goes to the pocket. Ireland were inching forward but a poor pass from Murray allowed the ‘Boks to swarm, so we went back for the advantage. Ireland have a penalty in front of the posts. They can’t kick it and, given the time constraints, a scrum will take too long. They will tap and go.
71 mins: Ireland get another chance. Pollard can’t clear the 22 when clearing to touch. Off the lineout, van Staden fails to roll away, allowing Crowley to kick into the corner.
South Africa send too many men into the lineout and give away a free-kick.
70 mins: If Ireland were going to have any chance of coming back into this, they had to score there off that lineout into the 22. Du Toit reads the through, beats Doris to it at the front and bats the ball back onto the South African side.
This doesn’t show the angle of Lowe being, I thought, clearly in touch. But here is the try nonetheless.
HANG ON! After all that, it might not be a try. Lowe had a foot in touch when the ball bounced off his thigh. Ben Whitehouse is the TMO and he has a huge call to make here. It’s reasonably clear that the ball brushes Lowe’s leg as his right foot is in touch. Ireland want this to be in touch, bizarrely.
TRY STANDS! Whitehouse doesn’t make the call. The ball clearly changes direction, meaning it hit a part of Lowe’s leg. It also does so while the foot is on the ground over the touchline. Whitehouse needs compelling evidence and, for him, these images are not clear and obvious. Wow. Doris makes the argument and he has every right to. Lowe is punished for his athleticism in keeping the ball in play.
Pollard finds his shooting boots once again to convert from out wide.
South Africa 20 Ireland 8
TRY CHESLIN KOLBE
Wow. Game, set and match you feel. It’s such a sickening try to concede. Pollard misses touch from the penalty, Lowe acrobatically keeping it in play. However, the ball takes a wicked bounce when it lands infield. Kolbe chases and hacks through before scoring. What a bizarre score.
64 mins: After the lengthy delay, South Africa win a penalty at the scrum. Ireland got the initial shove but the ‘Boks settled, rode it out and forced Porter to pop up.
After a lengthy delay, Casey is stretchered off. That really did look like a nasty blow to the head. He sticks a thumbs up to his teammates which is good to see.
64 mins: Ireland do just have a tendency to overplay in attack. That’s another occasion a forced offload leads to a spill.
What’s more, Casey is clearly struggling after whacking his head on the turf after being swallowed up by Snyman. That will be the end of his day. Conor Murray is on.
63 mins: Wow. agic from Casey but that’s poor from le Roux. Casey puts in a 50:22 kick after Lowe’s excellent catch in the air. Le Roux doesn’t hear Pearce say that the 50:22 is on so he lets it bounce into touch. A brain fade.
Ireland bring Porter back on from his blood sub. Bealham is also on for Furlong at tighthead.
60 mins: Ireland don’t get punished from the resulting penalty. Pollard’s strike is a shocker and he pushes it to the right of the sticks. It’s still South Africa 13 Ireland 8
NO TRY
Looking at the replay, the call is so, so marginal. Kelleher is judged to be on the floor when he played the ball backwards onto the Irish side. Therefore, the try is chalked off and it will be a penalty for South Africa. Huge, huge moment in the game.
TRY JAMES LOWE
Out of nowhere, Lowe levels things! It’s incredible Irish defence. Lowe initially meets Kolbe to stop a score after a deft crossfield kick. Then Ringrose shoots out of the line to put the pressure on, Kelleher and Aki flood in. The ball goes back on the Irish side, illegally via a boot it looked. Lowe takes the pass, beats Marx and then Pollard to score in the corner.
HANG ON! We are checking with the TMO.
56 mins: Wow, that’s a big call from Pearce. Van Staden looked to be blocking the Irish ruckers but that doesn’t stop the penalty going South Africa’s way when Marx gets in over the ball at the breakdown. Big, big call with Ireland making progress inside the 22.
54 mins: Now South Africa make a mess of the lineout as Snyman spills in the air. The emptying of the benches from both sides has led to a very scrappy couple of minutes.
53 mins: That’s brilliant from van der Flier. Snyman nearly gets a trademark offload away but when he doesn’t after a tackle from Beirne, van der Flier gets in to win the ball on the floor. Casey then clears downfield, clearing to touch just outside the South African 22.
Meanwhile Andrew Porter walks off with a bloody hand. He’ll go off, it remains to be seen if it’s a blood sub or a permanent one. Cian Healy enters the fray.
50 mins: Kriel then spills a simple pass in midfield. South Africa bring on the bomb squad. Nche, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Etzebeth and Mostert, and Kolisi are all gone. Steenekamp, Marx, Koch, Snyman, van Staden and Moerat all come on. Ireland also replace Joe McCarthy, James Ryan coming on. Ryan Baird enters for Peter O’Mahony. It was A difficult, error-strewn day for McCarthy. He’s had a handful of his big trademark carries but that hasn’t offset the errors.
Somewhere, Frawley and Ringrose have also come on. Henshaw and Osborne look to be the departees.
The first impact of the bomb squad is to give away a penalty at the scrum. I think that was for a lack of stability on the hit, Marx and Koch hitting the deck.
49 mins: CHANCE! Ireland just about survive. McCarthy spills a lineout and South Africa build momentum phase after phase. Kriel’s offload could well lead to a score for Kriel but Osborne comes flying up. That combined with a poor pass to Kolbe sees him spill it into touch. That had try written all over it.
48 mins: A nervy moment for Ireland. Pollard’s high bomb is scooped by Kriel who is one-on-one down the touchline. Crowley has to make the tackle, and he does. Kriel is then shunted into touch by Lowe.
47 mins: Wow. I spoke too soon. That was a gimme from a central spot close to the 10m line. He’s pulled it wide, a huge let-off for Ireland!
45 mins: Another needless Irish penalty. Kelleher kicks the ball out of de Klerk’s hand as he tries to play it from a ruck. This will be a simple kick for Pollard to extend the lead.
44 mins: Ireland’s defence is superb. Firstly, three Irish players hold up Etzebeth. Rather than conceded a scrum, he manages to lob the ball back inside. That puts de Klerk under pressure who in turn passes blindly straight to Tadhg Beirne. Ireland play one phases - where they get away with a McCarthy neck roll - before clearing.
43 mins: Aki thinks he’s spotted the ball coming out of the ruck and goes for it. It was still in, so he’s played it illegally. Penalty South Africa which is kicked to the corner.
41 mins: Right then. Here we go again. Pollard kicks off, McCarthy claims for Ireland and the second half is underway.
The news at the break is that Dan Sheehan has succumbed to a leg injury for which he received treatment during that first half. Rónan Kelleher is on at hooker.
Pollard has definitely looked to mix up South Africa’s attack, mixing up the wide game with a combination of high bombs and grubbers in behind. Testing Osborne on debut has no doubt been a big ploy. For the most part - aside from a shocker when dropping one kick into touch - Osborne has been good with the kicking game.
He was also good when finishing off a magic touch from Lowe for Ireland’s only try. They looked bereft of ideas in attack but this moment of magic has kept them in the game.
This Tony Brown South African attack has them playing some good stuff. They’ve matched Ireland for possession - something normally very unlike South Africa - while they’ve gone to width aplenty, looking to get the ball in the hands of their dangerous wingers. It worked brilliantly three minutes in for Arendse’s opening try, and it nearly worked later in the half for Kolbe.
Ireland have done a decent job of spoiling a handful of rucks but, when they have the ball, they look a touch devoid of ideas when running into brick walls.
Half-time: South Africa 13 Ireland 8
Doris gets away with a fairly illegal breakdown turnover. Pearce was blindsided and Ireland get the ball off the park with the clock in the red.
40 mins: Pollard misses a kick! It is some distance out, but at altitude, not really. 15m in from touch, just inside the Ireland half, Pollard pushes the penalty wide.
39 mins: That’s a stupid penalty from Porter. He comes through the middle and barges into de Klerk. It’s a simple call for Pearce as he pings him for playing the nine.
38 mins: Brilliant defence from Doris, Crowley and Aki. They hold up de Allende in contact and then somehow turn the ball over on the way to the deck. Two minutes until half-time, they play it safe, Lowe clearing.
TRY JAMIE OSBORNE
Osborne is over and the try has been given. We will check upstairs, though. There could have been a foot in touch from Lowe.
It’s a superb strike after average enough build-up. South Africa dominate as Ireland stay narrow in attack. Eventually, Crowley flings it wide. Sheehan’s behind the back offload to Lowe creates half a gap, but Kolbe is there. Lowe is about to be shunted into touch but his ability to stay in touch and fling the ball back inside is remarkable. Osborne is on hand to gather and dive over in the corner.
Try stands! Crowley pulls the touchline conversion wide.
South Africa 13 Ireland 8
32 mins: Crowley misses it! It wasn’t from a central angle out to the left, but he should be making that. He’s snatched at it, pulling it to the left of the upright.
Ireland get another penalty though as Kriel gets caught on the wrong side of the breakdown, slowing up Casey’s pass off the deck. This time, Ireland go to the corner.
31 mins: Ireland finally get their hands on the ball and it leads to a chance for points. Doris and van der Flier make excellent decisions when carrying to find soft shoulders. Osborne then follows up well, only to become isolated. Mbonambi goes after the ball but ends up disrupting off his feet. Crowley lines up a penalty.
28 mins: Andrew Porter is penalised for trying to disrupt Faf de Klerk at the back of the ruck but doing so while diving off his feet. The penalty is right in front of the posts and Pollard makes no mistake with the kick.
South Africa 13 Ireland 3
27 mins: Ireland are feeling the pressure. Doris’ turnover at the breakdown is opportunistic but brilliant. However, the work is undone by Beirne flinging a blind pass back into the 22. Crowley retreats to the bouncing ball before clearing to touch. However, it was carried back thanks to that loose Beirne pass, meaning the lineout is back inside the Irish 22.
24 mins: CHANCE! Ireland just about hang on. They get caught again a touch narrow on the short side. Du Toit feeds Kolbe and you would back him to score. Lowe slows him up before Crowley brings him to deck. Crowley then works through the ruck, countering through Kriel before Casey follows up to force a spill from de Klerk. You don’t expect the halfbacks to counterruck for a turnover, but Ireland will take it.
23 mins: Interception! Sheehan reads a le Roux pass - which was forward - well and plucks it out of the sky. Do you know what, given his speed, a run in under the sticks isn’t beyond the bounds of imagination there. He can’t keep his feet, though, and we don’t get the Sheehan vs Arendse footrace we all wanted.
21 mins: Scrappy enough stuff. Crowley goes for a high bomb from inside his own 22 and it’s well placed. Nash tries to compete but it hits his leg. Osborne then knees it forward before someone in an Irish shirt knocks on.
19 mins: An ironic cheer goes up as, this time, Kwagga Smith holds onto the restart safely. De Klerk clears to touch and Ireland make a mess of the lineout. Sheehan isn’t sure of the call and accidentally dummies a throw. That’s not allowed, free-kick South Africa.
18 mins: Pollard lines up the kick from a central position just inside the 10m line. That’s an easy one for him, South Africa’s lead is extended.
South Africa 10 Ireland 3
17 mins: James Lowe gets away with one as his attempted interception hits the floor but it goes backwards. If it went forwards, we were in deliberate knock and yellow card territory. As it happens, the penalty does come when Joe McCarthy gives away a soft one for not rolling away.
15 mins: There’s a big collision in midfield between Henshaw and Kolisi. It looks like there was head contact and Luke Pearce immediately stops the game. It was Kolisi’s shoulder which went into Henshaw’s chest, neck and chin. He’s on his feet but the medics are out to look at him. Henshaw stays on the field, no HIA.
No foul play, the game will restart with a scrum.
13 mins: Ireland are on the board! From a central position just inside the Springbok half, Crowley curls that one inside the uprights.
South Africa 7 Ireland 3
12 mins: Beirne takes a big shot in midfield. Smith is there hunting for the turnover and he comes away with the ball. Fortunately for Ireland, Ox Nche is judged to have been in the way on the floor. Penalty for not rolling and Jack Crowley will have his first kick at goal.
10 mins: Pollard goes to the boot, trying to catch Osborne on the turn in the backfield. They are targeting the young man. Lowe is back there, though, to help out, dotting the ball down over the line for a goal line drop.
For the second time today, Kwagga Smith spills the restart. South Africa then give away for not releasing the ball on the floor.
9 mins: Uh oh. A nervy moment from debutant Osborne. Ireland get a huge shove on the South African scrum but de Klerk and Kolbe combine to get the ball away and clear. Osborne should just let it bounce into touch, but he tries to gather and he ends up spilling it into touch. A gift of a lineout inside the Ireland half.
7 mins: Knock on! Ireland get their wires crossed. O’Mahony’s pass off the bottom of the ruck is poor, hitting McCarthy in the face. The lock tries to regather but can only spill it inches from the line. Chance gone. Porter and Mbonambi get involved in a mini scuffle which forces Luke Pearce to chat to the two captains.
6 mins: This already has the makings of a classic. Ireland almost hit back with a try. Osborne goes close but is ankle tapped - the chance came after Kwagga Smith spilled the kick off into touch. Ireland get a penalty 5m out and they will tap!
TRY KURT-LEE ARENDSE
3 mins: Fewer than two minutes on the clock and South Africa are in. They go from side to side with ball in hand, ultimately working an overlap for Arendse. He steps inside Osborne beautifully, sending the debutant to his knees as he tries to make a covering tackle, before crossing over virtually untouched. Pollard converts.
South Africa 7 Ireland 0
1 min: Unsurprisingly, that was a belting anthem from the ‘Boks even if the decision to let an out of tune crowd to sing on their own took away from what was a spine tingling start. Any way, Englishman Luke Pearce is today’s referee. He blows his whistle and we’re underway via the boot of Jack Crowley!
The view of John O’Sullivan, our man at Loftus.
The players are out. Full house. Time for the anthems. In the line-up, Andrew Porter is already bleeding. Not sure what that’s about.
The soundtrack to Rocky is blaring out at Loftus Versfeld. They also have a burly bloke with a UFC belt shouting down the microphone at the crowd. They really are doing absolutely everything possible to turn this into a quite literal fight.
Now the band is playing Zombie - Ireland’s de facto rugby anthem. Mind games or proper hospitality?
On a more serious note, the below analysis is an intriguing look at Joe McCarthy’s first full season as an international player. Over the course of the year, he’s not been as strong at clearing out ruck ball as say, James Ryan. Number one on the list of ways to beat Ireland is to slow up their breakdown. But at the same time, does Big Joe make up for his slightly weaker rucking with his stronger carrying and tackling?
The below piece delves into the numbers.
[ Ireland’s Joe McCarthy conundrum: can he do the business at the breakdown?Opens in new window ]
These guys don’t need any more off-field noise. Don’t fall into the trap of building the hype... Oh go on then!
In case you were wondering, it’s a belter of a day in Pretoria.
Rassie Erasmus has become a bit of a cult figure in South Africa. I suppose winning back-to-back World Cups would do that to a bloke, but his social media behaviour and general sh*thousery also helps. Like him or love him, he’s great TV.
Albert Heenop explains how the cult of Rassie was born.
Time to begin the spate of pre-match reading. First up, John O’Sullivan, our man in South Africa, interviewed Josh van der Flier in the build-up. He was good value, explaining how locals confused his surname to the point of speaking Afrikaans to the Wicklow man!
As for Ireland, they have opted to blood some inexperienced players. Well, it likely has been forced upon them given Jamison Gibson-Park’s injury and Hugo Keenan’s decisions to play Sevens at the OIympics.
Craig Casey starts at nine while, in what was a major shock, Jamie Osborne is given an international debut at fullback despite not having played a professional game there since 2022. He impressed for Leinster this season, but at centre, not in the backthree. Farrell has been an Osborne fan for some time and has taken this opportunity to get him into the team given Keenan’s absence.
After months of build-up and verbal grenades thrown predominantly from the South African camp, the rugby is finally upon us. South Africa haven’t beaten Ireland since 2016, which, one would suspect, is the source of at least some of the animosity. You can tell just how badly the Springboks want to win this series by looking at the team they have selected.
Historically, Rassie Erasmus has used games after World Cups to scope out his next raft of talented, large men. This time around, that isn’t the case. All of the starting XV are World Cup winners. Of the entire 23 players selected, 20 were involved in France last year.
The notable inclusions are that of Kwagga Smith at number eight - he replaces the now retired Duane Vermeulen from the World Cup final - and Wille le Roux. He is at fullback in place of Damian Willemse. Le Roux’s kicking masterclass was a big reason why the Bulls recently beat Leinster at this venue in the URC semi-finals, a game which could well have influenced selection here.
Hello all and welcome to live coverage of summer rugby! Nathan Johns (@nathanrjohns) here to guide you through all the action as it happens from Loftus Versfeld stadium. It’s South Africa vs Ireland in Pretoria, the World Champions on their own patch welcoming the second best ranked side in the world.
Kick-off is at 4pm. We’ll be building up to the action until then.
