They’re friends... CJ was upset that Pat was hurt – Schmidt

MONDAY JUNE 13 2016 WHEN CJ Stander was sent off after 23 minutes at Newlands on Saturday, Ireland fans may have thought their team’s hopes of securing a first ever win over the Springboks away from home had been ended by a South African-born player.

But the 14 men who were still on the field and the eight substitutes never felt that way, and they got down to serious work in true Irish spirit.

They knocked back Springbok after Springbok, with the much-vaunted duo of No 8 Duane Vermeulen and lock Eben Etzebeth unable to make any headway against Ireland captain Rory Best and the six other forwards still on the field.

Man-of-the-match Devin Toner, who dedicated his performance to his late father, not only won most of his lineouts comfortably but also impressed with an enormous work-rate in the tight-loose.

Best, loosehead Jack McGrath and No 8 Jamie Heaslip followed Toner’s lead, and classy 24-year-old flyhalf Paddy Jackson showed superb composure to score 16 points with the boot in the absence of the injured Johnny Sexton and drive the Boks back into their own half.

“It’s pretty hard to put into words really. I thought it was an incredible collective effort. The nine minutes before half-time when we were down to 13 players (due to a yellow card to centre Robbie Henshaw for a dangerous tackle on Elton Jantjies), to just put them down into the corner and just to scramble and work as hard as the players did to keep them out…” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said after the match.

“I thought the red card was very, very harsh, to be honest. CJ’s got both hands extended, and once you’re in the air, you can’t change your trajectory. The only thing I will say is that Pat Lambie is a super player, and I sincerely hope that Pat’s okay. I know CJ and Pat are friends and know each other, and CJ was upset that Pat was hurt as much as he was upset that he had to leave the field.”

Captain Best was busy around the field as well as outside of his scrummaging and lineout duties, with his most vital contribution perhaps kicking the ball out of Faf de Klerk’s hands a few metres from his own line when the Boks looked like they were about to score.

French referee Mathieu Raynal missed Best’s side-entry infringement at the breakdown, but that is the kind of streetwise skill that the Boks lacked on the night.

Best said that Allister Coetzee’s team were “a little bit rustier than normal” as it was their first game of the season, and Schmidt agreed with that sentiment. So they were both adamant that the Boks would come back with a vengeance in the second Test at Ellis Park this Saturday.

“It looked like a first performance for the Springboks, and I have no doubt that they will be improved in Joburg and it’s a home patch for Faf de Klerk and Elton Jantjies. It will be dangerous to get too carried away with this performance,” Schmidt said.