SPORTMATTERS • RACING • SOCCER 26, 28 • GOLF OH, SO CLOSE FOR THE BOKS • CRICKET
TO PLAY a Test match with 14 men for 57 minutes is hard. To do it against the Springboks in South Africa is even tougher.
But Ireland proved that it’s certainly not impossible when they beat the Springboks with 14 men at Newlands to record their first ever win on South African soil.
It’s a performance that these 23 Irishmen will cherish for the rest of their lives, and a result that will go down in Irish folklore and will be talked about for generations to come.
Ireland went down to 14 men when South African-born flank CJ Stander was controversially shown a straight red after a mid-air collision with Pat Lambie after he tried to charge down the Bok flyhalf ’s kick. In fact, Ireland actually played 10 minutes of the game with 13 men on the park after outside centre Robbie Henshaw was yellow carded in the 32nd minute for a late hit on the Boks’ replacement flyhalf, Elton Jantjies.
But, despite playing with 14 men for 57 minutes, the Irish won the match because of their superior game management, their skill and their passion.
It also helped that the Springboks made many mistakes on attack and defence, as the Allister Coetzee era started disastrously in front of almost 43 000 fans at Newlands.
The Irish, who came into the match ravaged by injuries, took the game to the Boks with strong carries by their forwards and backs. South Africa were forced to concede a plethora of penalties in the opening 20 minutes of the match to try and halt the Irish onslaught.
Ireland were immense at the breakdown, and showed that they can compete physically with the Boks. But the Boks still had their fair share of possession, but they just didn’t execute properly.
The Irish scored the first try of the match in the 11th minute after a couple of blockbusting mauls. The try came from a chip kick over the Boks’ defensive line before New Zealand-born Jared Payne scored. To make matters worse for the Boks, Lood de Jager was sent to the bin for an incident before the try was scored.
Pat Lambie scored the first points of the Coetzee era in the 16th minute after missing an earlier penalty straight in front of the posts. But it was Ireland who were in charge of the match, as they put the Boks under immense pressure with their ball-in-hand game.
It looked like the Boks would get a lifeline, an easy pass, when Stander was sent off. Lambie was knocked out cold after the collision, but was seen walking around in the changeroom afterwards.
Jantjies replaced Lambie, and he seemed to spark the Springbok backline. The South Africans made it 10-10 in the 32nd minute when wing Lwazi Mvovo rounded off a great team move, which featured some great hands by Jantjies, who was flattened by Henshaw after he made the final pass.
Ireland played the last eight minutes in the second half with 13 men, but managed to keep the Boks scoreless with some great defending on their line. The Boks also lacked a bit of patience on attack, also a feature of their game in the second half.
And because the Boks couldn’t get over the Ireland line, the Six Nations team grew in confidence. Their scrumhalf, Conner Murray, then scored a great try after some slick passing from the Ireland backs, who looked a lot more threatening than their South African counterparts.
Ireland led 23-13 after a Paddy Jackson penalty with about 10 minutes to go. However, straight from the restart, replacement lock Pieter-Steph de Toit gave the Boks a lifeline with an intercept try under the posts.
The Boks then needed a try from the last move of the match after Jackson kicked another penalty. Wing JP Pietersen looked like he was going to score in the left corner to give Jantjies a chance to win the match. However, the big Bok wing was tackled into touch, Irish resilience again coming to the fore.