SPRINGBOKS LEAVE BRAVE IRELAND TO FEEL SECOND BEST
IRELAND captain Rory Best admitted the Springboks’ stronger cutting edge was the the decisive factor after a defeat for the tourists in the third Test sealed a 2-1 series win for the home side.
South Africa fly-half Elton Jantjies led his team to victory, kicking 11 points to add to JP Pietersen’s try and a penalty from Ruan Combrinck.
Luke Marshall’s touchdown and eight points from the boot of fly-half Paddy Jackson kept the Irish in contention throughout an absorbing encounter but they fell just short in Port Elizabeth.
Best said afterwards: ‘It’s been a great series but a really, really tough series. It’s exactly what we thought it would be.
‘Nothing was ever given easily, we knew we had to defend really well.
‘They’re a top side, we came here to win a series, we’ve fallen short twice.
‘Our boys have fought valiantly and we’ve really put everything in.
‘Unfortunately in the last two Tests, the Springboks have just been a little bit more clinical.’
Ireland headed into the final Test level after their 26-20 victory in Cape Town two weeks ago was followed by a 32-26 defeat in Johannesburg last weekend.
Head coach Joe Schmidt expressed some regret at losing the series but was happy to help Ireland record a first-ever victory over South Africa on opposition soil.
‘It’s not a lost cause,’ he said. ‘Three six-point results (wining margins); two of them unfortunately didn’t go our way.
‘If you’d offered me one win and a couple of other close results like that before the tour, I probably would have taken it because there’s a little bit of history there but at the same time when you get as close as we did, it’s disappointing.’