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Ciaran Frawley coolly landed a last-gasp drop goal as Ireland weathered a second-half storm to pull off a stunning 25-24 victory in Durban and secure a 1-1 series draw against South Africa.
Frawley stepped off the bench to split the posts in dramatic fashion with the final action of a thrilling encounter at Kings Park Stadium following a similar effort just 10 minutes earlier.
Andy Farrell’s side looked set to slip to an agonising defeat to the back-to-back world champions after Conor Murray’s try helped reward a ferocious first-half display with a 16-6 lead.
Flawless fly-half Handre Pollard slotted eight penalties to turn the contest in the Springboks’ favour on the back of their 27-20 triumph last weekend in Pretoria.
But Frawley sensationally added to 14 points from Ireland number 10 Jack Crowley to secure a statement success from Farrell’s 50th Test as head coach.
“It’s mental,” Frawley told Sky Sports after a remarkable victory. “The place is like a fortress, it’s so loud. Today was going back and forth, they had momentum for most of the second half, but the boys dug in deep. I’m delighted
“The lads that came on added a real impact. There was a really positive vibe, which we needed, and the subs were made at the right time. It’s been 55 weeks on the bounce, a long old season, but we’ll look to go back and get even better. We’ve got a lot of learnings from this series and we’ll go again.”
The extraordinary twist came at the end of an undisciplined second period from Ireland during which stand-in captain Caelan Doris was sin-binned.
“We weren’t as intense as we were last week in the first half,” Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said. “We did well to fight back, the guys on the bench came on and made an impact.
“Ireland had the upperhand and physically, they dominated us in the first half. Last week we set the tone, this week they did and well done to them.
“We knew they would fight throughout, we wanted to win but we will learn from this.”
