The Springboks lost their first match of their end-of-year tour, going down 19-16 to Ireland 19-16 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
On a day where captain Siya Kolisi simply couldn’t get going in a number of areas in their game, they also struggled to make the most of their scoring opportunities - with world No.1 Ireland delivering a near-complete game to down the world champions.
As expected, it was a close encounter with the two teams entering the break level at 6-6.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, the first half was not without drama, with Springbok fullback Cheslin Kolbe spending 10 minutes in the cooler for a tip tackle, Ireland having a try disallowed after Damian Willemse, who also missed a shocker at goal, had a kick charged down.
The second half saw both teams use their opportunities better.
The hosts drew first blood when opting for touch after Frans Malherbe was caught offside at a ruck. They then launched a superb rolling maul which saw Josh van der Flier dot down to make it 11-6 in the 47th minute.
One of the areas that needed attention from the Boks was their breakdown and the slow ball they got from it. It was from another scrappy ball at the base that Ireland scored their second try, with
Mack Hansen dotting down on the left wing after they scooped up a loose ball on the right side of the field (16-6).
Chasing the game, the Boks had to pull out all the stops and with their lineout maul not working on the day, their goal-kicking not working - with Willemse replaced by Kolbe - they had another chance to claw their way back 14 minutes from time when given a kickable penalty.
Kolisi opted for touch and Willemse failed horribly to find it. That summed up the Boks’ day.
But still they kept fighting and were back in the match a minute later when Franco Mostert stretched over t make it 16-11, with Kolbe’s conversion striking the upright.
With six minutes to go Ireland’s Johnny Sexton converted an offside penalty to make it 19-11 and despite Eben Etzebeth’s basketball asset to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try four minutes from time, the Boks just couldn’t bounce back.
South Africa next face France who are on an 11-match unbeaten run this week.
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