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Boks bowed as Ciaran Frawley magic secures last-gasp Ireland win
By PA
Ciaran Frawley coolly landed a last-gasp drop goal as Ireland weathered a second-half storm to pull off a stunning 25-24 victory in Durban and secure a 1-1 series draw against South Africa.
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Frawley stepped off the bench to split the posts in dramatic fashion with the final action of a thrilling encounter at Kings Park Stadium following a similar effort just 10 minutes earlier.
Andy Farrell’s side looked set to slip to an agonising defeat to the back-to-back world champions after Conor Murray’s try helped reward a ferocious first-half display with a 16-6 lead.
Flawless fly-half Handre Pollard slotted eight penalties to turn the contest in the Springboks’ favour on the back of their 27-20 triumph last weekend in Pretoria.
But Frawley sensationally added to 14 points from Ireland number 10 Jack Crowley to secure a statement success from Farrell’s 50th Test as head coach.
The extraordinary twist came at the end of an undisciplined second period from Ireland during which stand-in captain Caelan Doris was sin-binned.
Victory was just Ireland’s second on South African soil and even more impressive given they were without five of their first-choice stars after injured pair Dan Sheehan and Bundee Aki joined tour absentees Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan on the list of unavailable talent.
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Farrell dropped skipper Peter O’Mahony to the bench as part of four personnel changes from the opening Test and warned his players to expect South Africa to be “twice as good” as seven days ago.
The hosts stuck with an unchanged 23, including selecting the most experienced starting XV in the nation’s history, following a first success over the Irish since 2016.
Springboks full-back Willie le Roux was forced off by a head injury, while team-mates Franco Mostert and Eben Etzebeth were left with bloodied faces during an intense opening in which Crowley calmly slotted a penalty.
Ireland’s physical start was deservedly rewarded with a superb 14th-minute try.
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Slick interplay between Jamie Osborne and Robbie Henshaw opened up the hosts’ defence, leaving scrum-half Murray to add to his score in Pretoria with another diving finish.
A bruising encounter showed little sign of relenting and Ireland prop Andrew Porter was left bloodied for the second successive week after Pollard’s penalty put South Africa on the scoreboard.
The impressive away side dominated the opening third of the match.
Yet they were reliant on alert full-back Osborne producing a crucial last-ditch tackle just metres from the try line to preserve their lead after Kwagga Smith charged down a Crowley kick to race clear.
Pollard and Crowley exchanged further penalties, while Doris was held up on the line by Pieter-Steph du Toit moments before the break.
The Six Nations champions should really have turned their territory into a second try but had to settle for the consolation of another three points from the boot of Crowley to end a fierce first half 10 points in front.
South Africa returned fired up and moved within four points following two more Pollard penalties, the second of which was converted after stand-in skipper Doris was yellow-carded for a crocodile roll on Malcolm Marx.
Poor discipline was piling pressure on Ireland and proved extremely costly during a monumental shift in momentum.
The Springboks led for the first time in the 58th minute following Pollard’s sixth penalty of the evening and then quickly restored the lead through two more kicks from the same player after Crowley’s boot briefly stemmed the one-way traffic.
Ireland remained in touching distance going into the closing stages and, after again being held up on the line, reduced the deficit to just two points thanks to Frawley’s fine drop goal from distance.
Farrell’s men were on the verge of suffering a second successive loss for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations before Frawley repeated the trick in a fascinating climax to stun South Africa.
If your scrum and lineout are dominant, and you get a penalty on the 5m line, why would you kick for 3 points. Gutless.
Pros and Cons for SA
Pros
1) Scrums looked generally dominant - this is good considering the quality of the Irish pack
2) Tackling were generally good particularly at the goal-line
3) Polly’s kicking is back
Cons - Decision-making really
1) Faf’s grubber at their own goal-line…why? It really feels like the boks dont trust their ability to cross the goal-line. Funk that. Charge hard and trust yourselves
2) Sacha kicking the ball away in the last 5 minutes. Boks had momentum and IRL was probing the RSA defense
3) Lack of jackals - feels like the counter-ruck was not strong
This game was highly entertaining. Lessons for RSA:
1) switch on early - can’t let IRL build a lead
2) decision-making - LeRoux is not always going to be there for you. We need at least two ppl capable of running the backline. Develop Sacha and teach a spare - I think we really missed Willemse in this match
Thoughts going fwd
1) Faf has looked pretty awful these last two games - it’s more in his choices than anything else.
2) Where are the real 8-men? Kwagga is too small and not good enough on offense. Marco has no lateral ability
Full credit to IRL for beating RSA at home without all your starters. This series did not settle the question of who is the better team now. If you think IRL is afraid, think again.
A largely second string Ireland - at the end of a 55 week season - beat the boks in their own sand pit. And Trump got shot.
ALL-TIMER WEEKEND!!!
So are they both the best team in the world now or….
Well done to Ireland. We will see you again in November I hope
Hahaha the irony, seeing all the bitter South African fans whining about the Irish kicking the leather off the ball and winning by 1 point.
How about just giving Ireland kudos. A long list of injuries, new caps, playing away from home, a long season, and all against a tough team to beat who historically grind it out and keep it tight. That’s a hell of a result to pull off and rugby is better for it.
Well done Ireland well deserved . Better team on the day. Some heroes and what could anybody want from a test match than that finish. Alan - well played Ireland. Looking forward to rrenewing our rivalry 🤗
Hahaha well done IRE. Some of these bloody Boks fans on here have been plain unbearable.
Lots of hilarious comments here. Total Bs. Great game and deservedly won by Ireland. I sm sure most Springboks would agree, Ireland deserved the won.
South Africa “gutted”? . . . at Ireland’s two excellent drop kicks after they had kicked 8 penalties and no tries. . . .Get a grip!