{"id":196257,"date":"2025-11-23T16:32:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/196257\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T16:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:32:24","slug":"south-african-media-reacts-to-springboks-win-over-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/196257\/","title":{"rendered":"South African media reacts to Springboks\u2019 win over Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pride may have been the word of the evening in Andy Farrell<\/a>\u2019s post-match press conference following Ireland<\/a>\u2019s 24-13 defeat to the Springboks<\/a>, but for the visitors \u201crelief was the pervading emotion\u201d, Mike Greenaway writes for South Africa\u2019s IOL News.<\/p>\n

In a Test which ended the Springboks\u2019 13-year wait for a win in Dublin, Greenaway adds: \u201cThe score flattered Ireland, who were dominated from the first whistle to the last, but doggedly hung in to prevent a rout\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Master bullies South Africa grabbed Ireland\u2019s throat and did not let them breatheOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

So much of that Springboks domination came at scrum time, where Ireland were heavily penalised in coming up against South Africa\u2019s \u201cset-piece masterclass\u201d, Leighton Koopman writes in the same publication.<\/p>\n

Although acknowledging Ireland\u2019s numerical disadvantage for much of the game, Koopman notes: \u201cWhile the cards undoubtedly shaped the flow of the match, the real difference lay in South Africa\u2019s dominance up front.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bok scrum was a force of nature, bulldozing the Irish pack backwards and forcing penalty after penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TadhgTadhg Furlong celebrates after Ireland win a scrum against South Africa. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA <\/p>\n

But in the midst of his glowing review of the South African set-piece, Koopman joins in the praise of Ireland\u2019s gritty resilience. \u201cEven when they were a player of two down, the home side showed their worth on defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the fourth yellow card, again for a scrum infringement, it should have sounded the death knell for the home side. However, they were in fighting mode in the second half, and whatever the Boks threw at them, they fended off.\u201d We won\u2019t pull him up on the fact it was three players Ireland were without at one stage.<\/p>\n

Jumping to South Africa\u2019s Times, the headline of Luke Alfred\u2019s analysis reads: \u2018Springboks smash the curse as power triumphs over Irish chaos\u2019. Little to argue with there.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Rassie Erasmus praises South Africa\u2019s dominant scrum after \u2018sweet\u2019 win over IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Describing Ireland as the Boks\u2019 \u201cbogey side\u201d, Alfred sums up the more farcical elements of Saturday\u2019s game. \u201cIn between the melodrama and referee Matthew Carley\u2019s over-zealous and rather schoolmasterly use of his whistle, there was \u2013 wait for it \u2013 some rugby.\u201d <\/p>\n

He credits Ireland for some key steals and counter-rucking \u201cwith Gaelic mischief\u201d (thanks, I guess?), leading to the game being \u201ca match of some frustration for the Springboks, particularly in the second half\u201d in which the world champions \u201ccouldn\u2019t land the killer blow\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish were nothing if not streetwise,\u201d Alfred adds. \u201cThey were in front of their own fans and, like the terminator, they refused to die. Just when you though they were buried, they dragged themselves off the canvas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were not only canny, they were brave, despite having to reorganise defensively on multiple occasions thanks to a flood of yellow cards against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RefereeReferee Matthew Carley speak to Ireland captain Caelan Doris during the game. Photograph: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

And in a remark few will likely dispute, Alfred concludes: \u201cCall me perverse, but I like my referees to be as invisible as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysing the game for News24, Simnikiwe Xabanisa floats the idea that perhaps the Springboks were too rigid in their pursuit of victory, almost to their detriment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a season in which wanting to win too much had already cost the Springboks a game they were desperate to win at Eden Park (their 24-17 loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship in September), the telltale signs that it was happening again against Ireland were there for all to see,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland player ratings v South Africa: James Ryan\u2019s red card costs teamOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Laying bare their dazzling record over the last two World Cup cycles, Xabanisa says the Boks team \u201cfound itself with some ghosts to lay to rest against its hoodoo side, Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n

He admits that while the visitors began brightly, their performance \u201clooked anything but by the end\u201d.<\/p>\n

Halfheartedly commending Ireland for \u201cactually defending quite well\u201d, Xabanisa comes rather close to criticising the Springboks for not running away with the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving done all the hard work by winning collisions and contesting vigorously in the air, the Boks froze somewhat when the promised land came into sight,\u201d he says, blaming inaccuracy, \u201ca plethora of second-half chances spurned\u201d and them \u201cgoing a little scrum crazy and seemingly stopping playing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Andrew Porter after receiving a yellow card. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA <\/p>\n

On Ireland\u2019s scrum issues, he singles out Andrew Porter. \u201cFor years now Porter \u2013 reputedly a monster in the gym \u2013 has scrummed on the angle without really being punished.\u201d Coining Ox Nch\u00e9\u2019s canonised quote, \u201csalads don\u2019t win scrums\u201d, Xabanisa adds: \u201cIt turns out pumping iron doesn\u2019t either\u201d.<\/p>\n

And Caelan Doris<\/a> also picked up a personal shout-out: \u201cWith a degree of admiration, it has to be said that captain and eightman Caelan Doris not even looking like getting penalised or carded despite illegally making a dog\u2019s breakfast of the rucks and almost always lining up offside in defence. Talk about the new Richie McCaw.\u201d Some might count that one as a compliment.<\/p>\n

But Xabanisa\u2019s standout quote must go to this zinger: \u201cThroughout the match, the scrum felt like an exercise in emasculating not only the eight Irishmen on the field, but also each and every man at the Aviva as well as their ancestors.\u201d Ouch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pride may have been the word of the evening in Andy Farrell\u2019s post-match press conference following Ireland\u2019s 24-13…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[75579,18,19,17,34132,132,4389],"class_list":{"0":"post-196257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-autumn-nations-series","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-ireland-rugby","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-springboks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115599976126151941","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}