South Africa holds off Ireland to win rugby series 2-1

South Africa ground out a 1913 win over Ireland in the third and deciding rugby test yesterday, holding off a desperate Irish attack in the dying minutes for a come-from-behind 2-1 series win.

Underlining how tight the contest was over the three games, Ireland was camped on the Springboks' line at the very end and only a frantic tackle on Ireland wing Keith Earls by South Africa scrumhalf Faf de Klerk prevented a last-minute try and a kick at goal for Ireland to win its first ever series win in South Africa.

Instead, the Springboks came back from 10-3 down at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and then clung on with that lastgasp defense, to win two tests on the bounce after a surprise loss in the opening game.

"Very happy, you know," South Africa captain Adriaan Strauss said. "Very tough game, tough series. Happy to get the win. Ground it out a bit, especially in the last few minutes."

Wing JP Pietersen ran on to a perfect cross-kick by flyhalf Elton Jantjies for South Africa's sole try on the stroke of halftime. That canceled out center Luke Marshall's first test try for Ireland in the 16th minute.

Leading 13-10 at halftime, South Africa added two more penalties in the second half to one from Ireland and knuckled down for the last 10 minutes. The Boks had to dig deep to deny a spirited Irish team, which was battering away at South Africa's tryline for the last three minutes.

Ireland dominated territory and had around 70 percent of the possession in the series decider. It just couldn't break through in those final phases, and eventually gave away a penalty, allowing South Africa to clear into touch and heave a huge sigh of relief.

No matter the end result, Ireland still exceeded all expectations after bringing a squad missing a string of regulars to South Africa, and then losing a couple of key players to injury during the series.

The difference between the teams in every test was just six points and Ireland came mighty close to becoming just the third team after the British and Irish Lions and the All Blacks to win a three-test series in South Africa.

"We've fought valiantly," Ireland skipper Rory Best said. "Unfortunately the last two test matches, the Springboks have been more clinical. A lot of people wrote us off before we arrived here."