This was a victory earned by draining the life and soul out of the opponent
LET’S be clear about this: Ireland won because they out-played South Africa and made the second-best team in the world make mistake after mistake. This was no handy or lucky victory scraped together thanks to an off-day for the Springboks.
They were certainly off-colour, but that was because Ireland drained the life out of them. There was plenty of defending to be done, the scrums became a matter of just surviving, but Ireland were clearly the superior side over 80 minutes.
The defensive performance was remarkable. Ireland had the guts to defend flat and there were often two white shirts wrapping up one green carrier. There was talk of South Africa unleashing their new attacking style but they just never got the chance.
It was a match that left them deeply frustrated but they were simply beaten into submission. That is a mighty thing to be able to say after 80 minutes in the company of the Springboks.
Jack McGrath is one player I want to highlight. He had some hairy moments going up against Jannie du Plessis in the scrums and Romain Poite penalised him a few times, but he dug in and survived – and in general play he was his usual highly effective self.
His role in the line-out defence was huge. Ireland caught the South Africans completely cold by not only staying down and letting them win their own ball, but then not allowing them to maul when the Springboks hit the ground. This allowed McGrath to steal in and tackle the carrier, which repeatedly disrupted them and left them highly frustrated.
To be honest, I think the toll was showing on McGrath and I would have substituted him early in the second half: the effort involved in those scrums alone was huge, but he should not be judged on a couple of decisions given against him. I thought he was honest and showed great guts throughout.
Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip were not far behind him on that score. O’Connell is the ideal leader on occasions like this one, but Heaslip had a massive game too, followed by Rhys Ruddock.
It is always a big challenge for a player who is called up late. Replacements might say they prepare as if they are starting but you never do: your focus is always that bit sharper when you know you are going to be there from the off.
So when Ruddock got told yesterday morning that Chris Henry was out he had to get himself sorted quickly, and he played like a man who had no difficulty in doing so.
The key to Ireland’s win was doing the basic things right. It’s something players and coaches are blue in the face talking about but there is a huge difference between saying and doing. Just consider the conditions yesterday. It rained all day in Dublin, stopping just a couple of hours before kick-off.
That meant the pitch was soaked and the ball was wet, and so just holding on to it in contact can be a challenge. And there were handling errors at times when Ireland tried to move the ball through the hands, but they had the cop-on to realise what the conditions were and so they didn’t take any daft risks.
Leaders ensure teams change tack like that, and Ireland have some of the best now. O’Connell is the captain but Heaslip offers experience and Johnny Sexton has been hugely important to this team for a long time.
He was an understandable selection for man of the match, and every time he plays he brings control and calm to the team. He just does the right thing repeatedly and that gives a massive amount of self-belief to the lads around him.
I have no doubt that Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne benefitted from having him beside them. They did not get a chance to show much fancy footwork in attack – Henshaw’s kick up the field that eventually led to a lineout and Ruddock’s try was an exception – but they defended consistently, got themselves in the right positions and showed no weaknesses that South Africa could exploit. That was vital. The Springboks are not one of the top two teams in the world by a fluke, but long before the end of the match they looked beaten. Ireland were the ones with the cool heads making the big decisions, and they have laid down a marker with this performance. People will now expect nothing less than three out of three this month. Winners are judged by the highest standards.