Ireland turn the screw with three-try flourish
IRELAND, with a performance of growing authority and excellence, dismissed South Africa from their presence to get their autumn campaign off to a spectacular start.
South Africa arrived in Dublin in decent nick off the back of a draw with Australia and a narrow defeat against New Zealand in their last two Rugby Championship matches. They had quiet hopes of catching the Irish unawares but finished a distant second.
Before the game their coach Allister Coetzee had ventured the view that Ireland were Europe’s All Blacks and you wondered briefly if he was, perhaps, just engaging on a charm offensive, but not a bit of it. The Irish put South Africa away with the minimum of fuss.
Ireland against the Boks has become a fixture with real meaning and intensity in recent years and all hail that.
Their Test series last year had a bit of everything including a first ever win on South African soil for the Irish down in Cape Town when they played the majority of the match with 14 men after the dismissal of CJ Stander.
There was plenty going on in the other two matches so there was the sniff of a revenge mission from the Irish yesterday.
Although the Boks fielded a huge pack, Ireland dominated the exchanges there, especially in the contact area and off that platform the Lions pairing of Jonny Sexton and Conor Murray exerted a vice-like grip on the game.
Initially it was a little cagey but with the Ireland pack in charge they gradually began to force the penalties from a creaking Boks pack.
Sexton knocked over three penalties and the lively Andrew Conway pounced for a try when South Africa failed miserably to deal with a not particularly testing high ball from Murray.
After the break the game meandered a bit in the third quarter, but the arrival of the Irish bench breathed fresh life into proceedings and heralded a massive sea change.
Ireland started to really up the pace and intensity in the final ten minutes and replacement Rhys Ruddock demonstrated great feet and power to find the line from five yards out after a strong break from the excellent Jacob Stockdale which was carried on by Conway before Ireland recycled the ball efficiently.
Sexton converted, and Ireland were on a charge by now. With four minutes left they attacked in text book fashioned from a short range lineout and replacement hooker Rob Herring kept his cool at the back to apply the coup de grace at precisely the right time.
It was carnage as the Boks fell away at the end and it was the electric Stockdale – he had started the attack way back down the pitch with an interception – who fittingly enough closed the game out with a well-taken try on the left. A record win for the Irish over South Africa and a massive statement of intent.
“The score flattered us a fair bit, it was very physical out there and we only really got on top in the last ten minutes when we played some very good rugby,” said flanker Sean O’Brien who was winning his 50th cap.
“We worked very hard all game to keep the ball and it paid when we got a few breaks. It was a very pleasing win.”
Ireland now face Fiji while South Africa must somehow regroup ahead of their visit to Paris. This was a painful defeat.
As Bath back row Francois Louw put it: “We ended up chasing the game much too early and Ireland took massive advantage of that. All credit to them.”