DUBLIN (Reuters) -South Africa continued their steamrolling November tour with a 24-13 win over an ill-disciplined Ireland who played part of the game with 12 men after suffering one 20-minute red card and three yellows in the first half alone on Saturday.
The back-to-back world champions, who had lost four of their last five games to Ireland and on their last three visits to Dublin, led early through a Damian Willemse try with Cobus Reinach adding a second after James Ryan’s red card.
Ireland then lost both flyhalves, Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley, and prop Andrew Porter to yellow cards during nine minutes of persistent fouling and even though Dan Sheehan struck back, an inevitable penalty try put South Africa 19-7 in charge at the break.
A second-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu try ensured it was four wins out of four on tour for the top-ranked Springboks, with a final game to come against Wales. The defeat was Ireland’s second in a mixed November series.
THREE IRISH YELLOW CARDS IN NINE MINUTES
“It’s always a tough outing against the Irish, we knew it was going to be a grind today,” South African player of the match Malcolm Marx said in a pitchside interview.
“The character that they (Ireland) showed was immense, having 12 guys on the field and still keeping us out for a good number of minutes just shows that character.”
Ireland were prised open by the visitors first attack with an increasingly trademark mixture of forward strength and slick passing resulting in Willemse’s one-handed touchdown in the corner.
The Springboks had to win with 14 men in their last two games and had hearts in mouths again on six minutes when flyhalf Feinberg-Mngomezulu hit Tommy O’Brien with a shoulder to the head and can count himself lucky to have been adjudged to have connected first with the winger’s chest.
The sides traded blows and aerial kicks before Ireland thought they had scored through Tadhg Beirne but it was chalked off when his second row partner Ryan was sin-binned for clearing out Marx with a shoulder to the head.
IRELAND HANGING ON
Ireland were hanging on in his absence and were a forward pass away from falling further behind when Ryan’s initial yellow card was upgraded to a 20-minute red.
It was a matter of when South Africa would score and a sniping Reinach crossed over as Ireland lost Prendergast to yellow card number one.
Somehow the hosts came roaring back and cut the deficit to five points through Sheehan, but backup flyhalf Crowley joined Prendergast on the sideline and was followed two minutes later by Porter.
The penalty try at the end of a stop-start first half was a formality.
Ireland trimmed the deficit when Prendergast slotted a long penalty but Feinberg-Mngomezulu added a fourth try that more closely resembled a sevens’ effort, such were the gaps left by the short-handed Irish.
Ireland had a go once restored to 15 men, with Prendergast adding a second penalty but they had a mountain to climb as the Springboks began to empty their bench and more overwhelming scrum pressure led to another Irish yellow card for replacement prop Paddy McCarthy.
Ireland defended manfully and went close to threatening a remarkable comeback with late pressure on the Springbok line but ran out of time.
“Chaotic for sure,” Ireland captain Caelan Doris said. “I thought we showed some very good character but obviously we’re here to show more than that.”
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Ed Osmond)
