Springboks end Dublin drought against ill-disciplined Ireland

The Springboks ended a winless drought by beating Ireland in Dublin in an ill-disciplined match that won’t live long in the memory.

English referee Matt Carley was forced to show six yellow cards over 80 minutes, one which was upgraded to red. And he could have shown another two or three against Ireland, who came to spoil.

Ireland ended up with four yellows and a red card for lock James Ryan, who charged shoulder first into Malcolm Marx’s face at a ruck in the 19th minute. The only surprise was that it was not a straight red.

Carley instead went to the bunker, where, unsurprisingly, the card was upgraded to red. However, under current laws, this resulted in a 20-minute red card rather than the 61-minute red card it should have been.

It summed up Ireland’s ill-disciplined approach to a match in which they seemed intent on disruption instead of trying to play their usual multi-phase game. They conceded 16 penalties in total.

It was almost as if they believed their only chance of beating the Boks was by dragging them into the gutter for a street fight.

And they almost succeeded because, scrum supremacy aside, this was the least impressive performance of the season by the Boks.

Rassie Erasmus’s men did some good things, but their poor finishing, sloppy breakdown work and jittery composure when they should have been turning the screw, was unusual.

That was probably a function of their desire to end the winless streak in Dublin and, as coaches love to say, “tick another box” in their ruthless march to world domination.

In the end though, they got the result, which was all that mattered this weekend.

Ill-discipline

At one stage, just before and after halftime, Ireland had 12 men on the field, as they shed players under immense pressure from the Bok pack.

But it was the Boks who lived on the edge initially when flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu escaped with "only" a penalty when he clattered into Ireland wing Tommy O'Brien. Replays showed the initial contact was shoulder to shoulder, but the Bok flyhalf's arm was tucked. It could have been a yellow.

Minutes later though, Ryan was first to go to the sin bin, as he flew into a ruck, shoulder first, and connected Marx straight in the face. Considering the straight reds Franco Mostert and Lood de Jager received on this tour, it once again threw officiating under an uncomfortable spotlight.

Carley bailed on giving a straight red and instead opted for a yellow and a bunker review. While that decision was being pondered, Ireland flyhalf Sam Prendergast was sin-binned after repeated warnings for the team inside their own territory.

Read more: Erasmus opts for continuity and combinations for Ireland showdown in Dublin

That was shortly followed by a yellow for replacement back Jack Crowley, who stupidly played the ball while lying on the ground in the red zone. It was a microcosm of Ireland’s ill-discipline.

It didn’t end there for Ireland though. Before and after halftime, props Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy were yellow-carded for repeatedly collapsing creaking scrums.

And later, the Boks conceded a penalty against Manie Libbok for “celebrating” a turnover, and ended it with a yellow card against replacement scrumhalf Grant Williams, adding to the shambolic nature of the night.

To be clear, the Boks deserved to win, scoring four tries to one and destroying Ireland’s scrum mercilessly.

But the world champions were far from clinical, and failed to bury Ireland when they had a three-man advantage.

If anything, Ireland deserves some credit for the heart and character they showed to stay in the fight, even if much of it was on the edge of legality.

Fast start

The Springboks made a near perfect start when fullback Damian Willemse opened the scoring four minutes into the match.

He finished a fine sweeping move that involved flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, wing Cheslin Kolbe and flank Pieter-Steph du Toit in the build-up.

It hinted at the promise of a high-quality match, which unfortunately never materialised in the mayhem of cards and spoiling.

The Boks added a second try through scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, who dummied his way through the defence after a multiple phase build-up inside Ireland’s 22.

Ireland, with 13 men on the field, responded with an excellent try for hooker Dan Sheehan minutes later to narrow the gap, and send some jitters through the Bok camp.

Just before halftime though, referee Carley’s patience ran out with another collapsed scrum close to the Ireland tryline, and awarded a penalty try to the Boks to give them a 19-7 halftime lead.

It was the least they deserved, and after halftime Feinberg-Mngomezulu surged through a half gap, handing off Ireland scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park to end the match as a contest.

From there it devolved into a scrappy mess that underlined Ireland’s grit and magnified the Boks’ sloppiness.

But ultimately the right team won as the Boks underlined their status as the best team in the world by some margin, even when they were well below their best. DM

Scorers:

Ireland – Try: Dan Sheehan. Conversion: Jack Crowley. Penalties: Sam Prendergast (2).

South Africa – Tries: Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Penalty try, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Conversion: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.