Pride may have been the word of the evening in Andy Farrell’s post-match press conference following Ireland’s 24-13 defeat to the Springboks, but for the visitors “relief was the pervading emotion”, Mike Greenaway writes for South Africa’s IOL News.
In a Test which ended the Springboks’ 13-year wait for a win in Dublin, Greenaway adds: “The score flattered Ireland, who were dominated from the first whistle to the last, but doggedly hung in to prevent a rout”.
[ Master bullies South Africa grabbed Ireland’s throat and did not let them breatheOpens in new window ]
So much of that Springboks domination came at scrum time, where Ireland were heavily penalised in coming up against South Africa’s “set-piece masterclass”, Leighton Koopman writes in the same publication.
Although acknowledging Ireland’s numerical disadvantage for much of the game, Koopman notes: “While the cards undoubtedly shaped the flow of the match, the real difference lay in South Africa’s dominance up front.
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“The Bok scrum was a force of nature, bulldozing the Irish pack backwards and forcing penalty after penalty.”
But in the midst of his glowing review of the South African set-piece, Koopman joins in the praise of Ireland’s gritty resilience. “Even when they were a player of two down, the home side showed their worth on defence.
“With the fourth yellow card, again for a scrum infringement, it should have sounded the death knell for the home side. However, they were in fighting mode in the second half, and whatever the Boks threw at them, they fended off.” We won’t pull him up on the fact it was three players Ireland were without at one stage.
Jumping to South Africa’s Times, the headline of Luke Alfred’s analysis reads: ‘Springboks smash the curse as power triumphs over Irish chaos’. Little to argue with there.
Describing Ireland as the Boks’ “bogey side”, Alfred sums up the more farcical elements of Saturday’s game. “In between the melodrama and referee Matthew Carley’s over-zealous and rather schoolmasterly use of his whistle, there was – wait for it – some rugby.”
He credits Ireland for some key steals and counter-rucking “with Gaelic mischief” (thanks, I guess?), leading to the game being “a match of some frustration for the Springboks, particularly in the second half” in which the world champions “couldn’t land the killer blow”.
“The Irish were nothing if not streetwise,” Alfred adds. “They were in front of their own fans and, like the terminator, they refused to die. Just when you though they were buried, they dragged themselves off the canvas.
“They were not only canny, they were brave, despite having to reorganise defensively on multiple occasions thanks to a flood of yellow cards against them.”
And in a remark few will likely dispute, Alfred concludes: “Call me perverse, but I like my referees to be as invisible as possible.”
Analysing the game for News24, Simnikiwe Xabanisa floats the idea that perhaps the Springboks were too rigid in their pursuit of victory, almost to their detriment.
“In a season in which wanting to win too much had already cost the Springboks a game they were desperate to win at Eden Park (their 24-17 loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship in September), the telltale signs that it was happening again against Ireland were there for all to see,” he writes.
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Laying bare their dazzling record over the last two World Cup cycles, Xabanisa says the Boks team “found itself with some ghosts to lay to rest against its hoodoo side, Ireland”.
He admits that while the visitors began brightly, their performance “looked anything but by the end”.
Halfheartedly commending Ireland for “actually defending quite well”, Xabanisa comes rather close to criticising the Springboks for not running away with the game.
“Having done all the hard work by winning collisions and contesting vigorously in the air, the Boks froze somewhat when the promised land came into sight,” he says, blaming inaccuracy, “a plethora of second-half chances spurned” and them “going a little scrum crazy and seemingly stopping playing”.
On Ireland’s scrum issues, he singles out Andrew Porter. “For years now Porter – reputedly a monster in the gym – has scrummed on the angle without really being punished.” Coining Ox Nché’s canonised quote, “salads don’t win scrums”, Xabanisa adds: “It turns out pumping iron doesn’t either”.
And Caelan Doris also picked up a personal shout-out: “With a degree of admiration, it has to be said that captain and eightman Caelan Doris not even looking like getting penalised or carded despite illegally making a dog’s breakfast of the rucks and almost always lining up offside in defence. Talk about the new Richie McCaw.” Some might count that one as a compliment.
But Xabanisa’s standout quote must go to this zinger: “Throughout the match, the scrum felt like an exercise in emasculating not only the eight Irishmen on the field, but also each and every man at the Aviva as well as their ancestors.” Ouch.
