Match Report
How Brendan Fanning made sense of that, I’m sure I don’t know.
But he did in this cracking report of an utterly bizarre and breathless game.
That’ll be me for the night. Hope you enjoyed it.
And here is Malcolm Marx:
As you can tell by the way that I look it was crazy. Ireland are a quality side. We’re really happy with the way the guys fought and eventually get a win at the Aviva.
We got some good success [in the scrum] but at times we weren’t as successful as we wanted to be. Playing against a quality side is always going to be a tough battle.
The character that they showed was immense. Even with 12 players they kept us out.
Gavin O’Reiley pulls no punches:
“Carley clearly thinking ‘SA not happy about all these head smash red cards so let’s leave it’…don’t want Rassie after me”
I have to agree. Thought feinberg-Mngomezulu deserved a yellow at least.
Wow. That’s all I have left.
Hopefully the player of the match, Malcolm Marx, has something to say when he gets a mic in front of his face.
He was immense. Just immense.
Full-time: Ireland 13-24 South Africa
It’s over! An utterly mad game. Perhaps the maddest game I’ve ever covered. I need a quick breather. Reaction to come.
80 min: Smith, just as he did in the WC final two years ago, steals it! But Ireland steal it back! Gibson-Park has it! My word, what a mad end to an utterly mad game! Is this another yellow for SA?
79 min: Ireland have the advatnage and fling it long for Gibson-Park (when did he come back). He spills it but they will get another crack after some argy bargy.
Now a South African is carded (Williams, 79)
Accumulative penalty in the red zone.
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79 min: Now the Boks show their defensive composure. They are holding on and keeping the Irish at bay, though there is a penalty advantage. Will this be a yellow?
Card rescinded! Snyman
Scratch that.
Yellow card for South Africa! Snyman (78)
Now the Boks get a man in the bin! The crowd is going bonkers! Persistent pressure. Ireland pressing close to the line. Still 11 points (so a try and a drop goal won’t be enough).
75 min: Ireland show off their continuity. Aki to van der Flier. Bealham with a big carry. Prendergast tries to straighten is tackled by Smith and then has the ball smothered by Snyman. It was a knock-on, in fact. No! It’s a reverse! South Africa have. coughed up a penalty for over celebrbating! Is that a thing? Apparently it is. Ireland will have the line-out five out.
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75 min: Ireland have equalled the number of cards received by a Test team and yet they’re still hanging in there.
74 min: Marx is back on with a bandage around his head. That was just a HIA. He throws to the line but misses Snyman as van der Flier comes away with it. But Ireland can’t break free from their own 22 despite having the ball. Now they kick and win a penalty after Smith grabbed a loose ball from an off-side position.
73 min: Gibson-Park, from his own 22, hooks a clearing box kick and finds touch. That’ll be his last act. He was excellent today.
71 min: Madness! Lowe gets an edge down the left and dinks a kick. Kolbe charges down and grubbers himself. Kolbe and Smith chase after the lose ball but Crowley beats them to it. He picks it up and runs it back from his own line, making 22 metres. SA are back on it and kick ahead where Moodie looks destined to score but there Crowley is again, fighting and disrupting the ball and forcing Moodie to spill.
Unreal stuff!
68 min: This isn’t done yet. SA, with Grobelaar on for Marx, have the line-out. They launch a high ball. Ireland are back inside their own 22. They kick long, almost to halfway. Prendergast looks knackered but he’s hanging tough. So is every player in white. What a performance. SA are hammering them!
66 min: Lowe pinches a South African off-load! Bealham runs in free space. Snyman is almost minced by Prendergast. Kelleher cut down but the Irish keep hold of it. Gibson-Park hoofs high.
65 min: Ireland force the spill and come away with the ball! They survive agaib and the Aviva roars! How have the Springboks not racked up 50 points? This is one of the greatest defensive performances I’ve ever seen. They probably won’t win but my word, haven’t they stood up!
64 min: Ireland did well to shoot out and smother the SA attack off the back of the scrum. Snyman linked with de Allende with a lovely off-load as he was tackled. But Doris strayed off-side, entering from the side. Libbok kicks to the corner. That must count as a win for the Irish who lost a man but didn’t ship a try from the scrums.
63 min: The scrum goes down again. Aki is now part of it.
63 min: Porter has to rejoin the action after McCarthy is sent off. Van der Flier is sacrificed. It’s becoming a little farcical if I’m honest. But SA are entitled to use their super strength and keep packing down. A try or another yellow card. I can’t see any other outcome right now.
A fourth yellow card for Ireland! (McCarthy, 63)
Three scrum penalties in a row and someone had to go.
62 min: Another penalty at the scrum. Carley gives a lecture to the Irish front row. But he’s got to act decisively now. Anyway, they pack down again.
61 min: The Irish front row hits the deck and that’s another scrum penalty for the Boks. They choose to pack down again. One more will likely end in a penalty try.
60 min: Smith carries close off the back of the scrum. Kriel goes himself and is held up! But they were playing with an advantage. Not sure why that is not a yellow. Feels like he’s taken pity on the home side but that’s a third infringement close to their own line. Anyway, the Boks will scrum again. They are right under the poles, choosing to keep most of their backs towards the left.
Peter McDonald has asked how many Irish players are on the field.
To be honest, I’m not sure. I think 15. Reminder that the red card was a bunker decision, so not a permanent red.
59 min: SA pinch the line-out. Smith carries. SFM grubbers to PSDT who somehow keeps the ball alive on the left wing. SFM darts again. Beirne and then Kelleher – on for Sheehan – commit offences so the Boks have a penalty as they hook SFM and Kolisi, two of the iconic players of this team. On come Libbok and Esterhuizen. Boks choose to scrum five out.
57 min: Another turnover under the shade of the Irish posts. My word they are such an impressive outfit. Most teams would have been blow away by now but these fighting Irish are not going away. So impressive.
Penalty! Ireland 13-24 South Africa (Prendergast, 56)
Another three. Are they actually going to do this? Long way still.
55 min: Willemse spills a high ball and Hansen is quickest to it. Ireland are giving this a proper go and Gibson-Park milks a penalty – as is his right – at the back of a ruck. Prendergast will line up another shot. This is simply astonishing. How are they hanging in this fight?
53 min: My goodness. Gibson-Park has just made one of the best clearing kicks I’ve ever seen. His crum was going backwards. By the time he picked the ball up he was inside his own goal line. But he managed to hook his foot round the ball and find touch on halfway.
Then Marx throws skew again and now Ireland get the throw on halfway. Surely they can’t fight their way back from here? Surely.
52 min: Heroic from Ireland! Snyman won the line-out and fed Wiese round the corner. He look destined to score but Doris and pals held up up and forced the turnover. They still need to survive the scrum five out from their own line.
52 min: SA go to the back of the line-out where Pieter-Steph du Toit catches. Ireland cough up a penalty and SFM will kick to touch. He finds the corner and here comes more trouble for the Irish. This could get very messy.
50 min: Marx comes within inches of the Irish line before Etzebeth carries but McCarthy, somehow, comes up with Ireland’s first turnover of the match with his heels on his own line. The clearing kick doesn’t go far, but it goes out, just inside the 22.
49 min: Another soft penalty against Ireland. This time after two players got in each others way. And just in case things weren’t looking bleak for the Irish, here comes RG Snyman.
SFM hoofs to touch to set up a line-out inside Ireland’s patch.
TRY! Ireland 10-24 South Africa (Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 47)
The prodigy scores! This kid is the real deal. Off a monster scrum that won a penalty, SFM gets on the ball and stiff-arms Gibson-park before putting on the afterburners. He shoots through the hole in midfield with a slick little dummy and slides over. He shows he’s human by missing the conversion.
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45 min: Ireland knock-on straight from the restart, gifting the Boks a scrum right in front of the poles between halfway and the 22.
Penalty! Ireland 10-19 South Africa (Prendergast, 44)
Fresh from his yellow card, the lad slots a penalty under pressure. Nine point game.
43 min: Ireland get a penalty and the crowd roar as if they’d scored a try. Prendergast places the ball on the tee and will take aim at the poles. Will also eat time time as they crawl towards a return to 15 men.
42 min: Young Paddy McCarthy with a strong carry. A high kick bobbles out for a SA line-out but Marx throws skew so Ireland get the ball, reward for competing at the set-piece. Prendergast rejoins. Ireland choose to line-out, wisely.
The players are back and they boos greet them! This crowd is frothing! Ireland with so much to do. They start this half with 12 men and no fly-half. If they win from here I’ll change my surname to O’Gallanan.
PENALTY TRY! Ireland 7-19 South Africa
The crowd boos as a bonkers half comes to an end!
Ireland end it with 12 players on the pitch after receiving three yellow cards and one red.
It is a testament to their resolve that the Boks haven’t disappeared over the horizon. But how on earth do they come back from this.
I need a breather, and perhaps a stiff Irish dram.
Back in a bit.
Another yellow card for Ireland (Porter, 40+2)
A third yellow card in the half! Ireland are down to 12 as Porter is nailed in the scrum as he faces a fresh prop duo. South Africa have to score from here!
40+ min: The Boks maul and Ireland hold it up, but they then stop it illegally.
Erasmus has hooked his two starting props and replaced them with Steenekamp and Louw (who weighs 144 kg). This will be a big scrum at the end of this half. Can Ireland hold them out?
Yellow-card! Ireland (Crowley, 40)
Ireland lose another! Crowley cynically had a hand in the ruck which forced the knock-on. He’s shown a deserving yellow. South Africa go to the corner and maul.
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39 min: A chance for Ireland to breathe and for SA to strike once more. Marx has the ball at a line-out inside Irish territory. But Reinach knocks on in contact so we’ll close the half with an Irish scrum feed.
TRY! Ireland 7-12 South Africa (Sheehan, 37)
Dan the man! Two players down, so what? The Irish win the line-out and come flooding forward. A couple of brutal carries from van der Flier and then Aki around the fringe have the Boks back peddling before Sheehan joins on a blind run and crashes over. Crowley slots the extras. Just five points the difference.
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36 min: Penalty for Ireland after Aki clatters Pieter-Steph du Toit following a Boks break down the line from left to right. That is such an important intervention from the big man. It knocked the ball loose and then the Boks grabbed it illegally. The penalty is kicked into South Africa’s 22 where Ireland will have the throw. Ryan catches it one-handed and now they;re five out!
TRY! Ireland 0-12 South Africa (Reinach, 34) and a yellow card for Prendergast!
Finally they’re over! After a penalty at the scrum, and two more penalties for Irish players straying off-side, the Boks are finally over as Reinach snipes through a fractured wall of white to score a try that was coming.
Prendergast is shown a yellow card, likely a result of repeated infringements in the red zone.
SFM adds the extras and Ireland, 12 points down with 13 men on the field, have a mountain to climb.
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33 min: Ireland do well to hold the Boks scrum. Furlong thinks he did enough to win a penalty. Instead it’ll be a reset.
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32 min: O’Brien, with a wad of bloody tissue up his nose, makes his way off the pitch and is replaced by Crowley. No idea what they’re doing with the backline now. First, the Boks feed to the scrum…
32 min: No cards. Just a penalty. Both O’Brien and Moodie cam charging into each other but O’Brien was high. Boks take another scrum. Slightly more infield but still five out.
32 min: South African win another penalty at the scrum. But the morass collapses so Reinach has to fling it out. The ball drifts into the space between de Allende and Moodie and both go for it which invariably means it’s spilled. But is there another dangerous play from an Irishman? Or a South African? I think this is Moodie’s shoulder on O’Brien’s head. Or is it the other way round? This is very messy.
Aki joins the scrum at blindside. That means there’s a gap in the backline.
30 min: The line-out is cleanly won and they do maul. It inches forward and Ireland do well to hold it up but then Porter brings it down illegally. Rather than line-out again the Boks choose to scrum from five out. They’ll be taking aim at a penalty try if they get this right in the left corner.
29 min: South Africa win a penalty just before de Allende almost found a gap in the line from inside Ireland’s 22. This gives SFM a chance to nudge to the corner. Well, not quite to the corner. About 10 metres out. Can they maul from here?
Ryan's yellow upgraded to red!
28 min: Now then! It was reckless. It was dangerous. And now Ryan is a spectator like the rest of us. Ireland need to navigate 12 more minutes with a man down.
27 min: Doris does brilliantly at the base of a messy scrum as he holds off the challenge of two South Africans. Willemse kicks and catches before SFM rakes on to the corner that goes too long and Hansen mops up under pressure.
NO TRY! Ireland 0-5 South Africa
26 min: A second try chalked off! This time it’s against South Africa! Venter the prop burrowed over from close range but it came after Wiese’s forward pass from an off-load for the onrushing Nortje. South Africa looked so menacing but that pass did float forward. Right decision. Ireland continue to cling on as they brace themselves for a scrum inside their own 22. They need to get this in and out as fast as they can.
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25 min: SA try something different off this line-out. They get it to SFM who hoists a very high kick. Moodie chases but he’s beaten by a leaping Hansen. But O’Brien immediately kicks it straight out so SA get another line-out just beyond Ireland’s 22 on the left.
23 min: SA have another line-out, on Ireland’s 22. Reinach dallies and Beirne sacks him, winning possession back. That’s a big play from the veteran lock. The clearing kick from Prendergast finds touch around halfway. SA need to make this man advantage count. Ireland doing well to keep them at arm’s length.
22 min: SA don’t maul. Instead they go off the top to set up Kolisi with a crash ball in midfield. A couple of skip passes find Moodie who tries to chip over the top. It’s deflected out. Another line-out for the Boks.
21 min: SFM takes a mark but doesn’t kick it out. Prendergast kicks himself and does find touch. But he’s outside his 22 so SA will get the throw and a huge territorial win. With an extra man in the tight five now is the time to maul.
Yellow-card and no try! Ireland (Ryan, 20) Ireland 0-5 South Africa
Oh hang on! They’re going to chalk this off! Ryan came flying off his feet in a build-up ruck and made head to head contact with Marx. He’s rightly shown a yellow card and the try is struck from the record.
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TRY! Ireland 5-5 South Africa (Beirne, 20)
Beirne is over! Prendergast missed the simple penalty but hit the left upright flush. Lowe was quickest to the rebound and Ireland came storming forward. Van der Flier made ground before Beirne, from two metres out, powered over!
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17 min: Ireland go to the front of the line-out but Etzebeth is there, making a mess of the ball. It spills loose and Thomas du Toit gathers it but is bundled out of touch. So Ireland get another throw. Once again the Boks infringe, entering a midfield maul from the side. Pieter-Steph du Toit the guilty party I think. This is kickable and Prendergast takes the option to shoot at goal from the 22, just to the left of the sticks.
16 min: Ringrose spots a bit of open space and kicks into it. it’s almost perfect but no matter, the Boks were offside at that ruck so Ireland get the chance to set a line-out on the world champions’ 22.
16 min: Both teams are going berserk at the breakdown, making life so tough for the two nines. Counter rucks and counter, counter rucks aplenty. A bit of kick tennis ends with SA on the ball in their own half. Reinach slows it down a touch before hoisting a high kick that lands on halfway. Hansen does well to secure possession.
14 min: SA kick off the line-out and their rush defence pins Ireland back in their own half. Ireland then kick themselves, hanging it high. Willemse gets up and spills backwards. Kriel gathers off the deck but knocks forward. Scrum to Ireland just inside from halfway to their right. Phew. It might read and stop-start but this is breathless.
11 min: Soft penalty for South Africa as Lowe just gets his timing wrong, making contact with Willemse as the SA fullback was still in the air fielding a high kick. SFM skews his kick so doesn’t make a lot of territory, but he finds touch at least. Line-out to the Boks inside their own half.
10 min: The Boks scrum wins a penalty but they don’t hang about as the backs come flooding forward. They go from right all the way to Moodie on the left who stands up a tackler and gets over halfway. The ball moves towards centre field where SFM tries a grubber that doesn’t come off so Ireland are back on the ball until they kick it away. SA line-out inside their own patch. This is a proper rugby match! Great tempo.
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8 min: South Africa steal the ball metres from their line! Ireland went coast to coast and looked to have made the ground when Lowe passed back inside for O’Brien, but the young winger was isolated for a fraction of a second and Pieter-Steph du Toit stole in and won the ball on the ground. Brilliant defence from the world champs. The clearing kick makes good ground and Ireland throw, but not straight. So South Africa will have the scrum feed on their own 22. What a defensive set!
7 min: NO CARD! I think SFM got away with that. It is a penalty for Ireland. Not even a yellow. We’ll debate this in the coming week. Anyway, Ireland line-out five out.
7 min: Could be a card coming. SFM looked to have hit O’Brien on the right wing with his shoulder. It came off the back of brilliance from Lowe on the opposite wing who skinned Kolbe. Then Ireland charged forward with Hansen joining the line. The pass to O’Brien was short which gave the covering defence a chance to make the ground. du Toit made the first hit and SFM came in and never looked like wrapping his arm. I tell you what, this could be a third red card. I hope not. But could be.
TRY! Ireland 0-5 South Africa (Willemse, 4)
Stunning! Springboks rugby in microcosm. The line-out forms into a formidable maul that won the penalty and powered forward. Then de Allende breaks from midfield and sticthes an off-load for Wiese. They recycle. SFM to Kolbe who sniped through a gap and passed to Willemse on the left wing. The fullback dived to the corner to dot down. A simply brilliant score that silences the crowd. SFM can’t land the conversion.
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3 min: Ireland go over the top at the line-out and van der Flier gets the better of Wiese. But the Boks No 8 regathers himself and soon after gets over the ball and wins a penalty on the floor. Feinberg-Mngomezulu (SFM) hoofs it to touch on halfway.
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2 min: Early penalty for Ireland. Twice in two minutes they found Lowe free on the left wing with lovely skip passes. Efficient start from Ireland. Now they’ll get the line-out just beyond the Boks’ 22.
Alrighty, Matthew Carley blows his whistle and away we go!!
Boks in green, Ireland in white.
Stirring stuff. Can the players answer Ireland’s call? They clobbered the Wallabies by a record score but this is a different bag of biltong.
I think a win today would count as Farrell’s best in a one-off Test.
Anthems now. We’re getting close!
Siya Kolisi is leading Catherine Connolly as he introduces the President of Ireland to his players.
Caelan Doris does likewise.
Big moment for the President. Big moment for Irish rugby. Big game! BIG RUGBY!
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RG Snyman leads the teams out on his 50th Test appearance.
The Leinster lock will be desperate to get one over his club teammates.
“For us it’s massive.”
Rassie Erasmus isn’t downplaying how badly he wants this. He’s acheived everything in this game but he’s never beaten Ireland in Ireland.
That last stat will be the one that should concern Irish fans.
The Boks – like England – have targeted the final 20 minutes of the game. It’s not just the Bomb Squad and the firepower from the bench, but a recalibration in how teams set themselves up.
Kwagga Smith and Andre Esterhuizen will look to open up a fragmenting game. Will the Irish be able to match that injection of tempo?
How about some stats:
- Ireland have won four of their last five Tests against South Africa
- The Springboks have won their last six internationals
- South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s six international tries have all been scored in 2025
- The second half has produced the most points in nine of South Africa’s last 11 Tests
South Africa team
Ireland have their young hot-shot 10, South Africa have theirs.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a future World Rugby Player of the Year (you can hold me to that). Now is his chance to prove that.
He’s got a formidable pack in front of him and a settled midfield of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende behind him.
Canan Moodie adds height to the wing and Andre Esterhuizen continues his role as a hybrid off the bench. Is he a flank? Is he a centre? Does it matter?
South Africa: 15 D Willemse; 14 C Moodie, 13 J Kriel, 12 D De Allende, 11 C Kolbe; 10 S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 C Reinach; 1 B Venter, 2 M Marx, 3 T du Toit, 4 E Etzebeth, 5 R Nortje, 6 S Kolisi (capt), 7 PS du Toit, 8 J Wiese.
Replacements: 16 J Grobbelaar, 17 G Steenekamp, 18 W Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 K Smith, 21 A Esterhuizen, 22 G Williams, 23 M Libbok.
Ireland team
Sam Prendergasr gets the nod at fly-half as an otherwise settled side takes aim at the world champions.
Experience duo Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier return with gnarled veterans joining them across the park.
In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are the starting front row, with James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne in the engine room. There’s no tougher test for a pack in world rugby than a clash with the Boks. All these men will need to stand up.
Ireland: 15 M Hansen; 14 T O’Brien, 13 G Ringrose, 12 B Aki, 11 J Lowe; 10 S Prendergast, 9 J Gibson-Park; 1 A Porter, 2 D Sheehan, 3 T Furlong, 4 J Ryan, 5 T Beirne, 6 R Baird, 7 J van der Flier, 8 C Doris (cap).
Replacements: 16 R Kelleher, 17 P McCarthy, 18 F Bealham, 19 C Prendergast, 20 J Conan, 21 C Casey, 22 J Crowley, 23 T Farrell.
Settle in!
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Teams and further updates to come.
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Kick-off at 5.40pm GMT.
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This is the one game that both coaches want. If it lives up to the billing, it could be the game of the year.
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But Andy Farrell is a slick operator and would have circled this date in red on his calendar long before Erasmus and his gang touched down at Dublin Airport. He’ll no doubt have a few tricks up his sleeve.
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Ireland, though, have not managed to kick on in quote the same fashion. The loss of Johnny Sexton is still keenly felt and there is an over reliance on some players who are in the autumn of their careers.
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Ireland are not the team they were two years ago and the South Africans will start as favourites. They have retained a core group of gnarled veterans while blooding young talents. They can strike on the counter, break teams down through methodical phase play and crash over opponents with sheer, unrivalled heft. There’s a reason sober rugby minds have wondered if they are the equal to Richie McCaw’s All Blacks.
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He has never won in Dublin. In fact, Ireland is the one team that has had his number wherever he’s played them. A 1-1 drawn series on his own patch came after a defeat in the World Cup. And though the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a second consecutive time, this one itch remains unscratched.
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Here we go …
Rassie Erasmus has ticked every box as South Africa’s all-conquering coach. Except one.
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