Ireland put the boot in
Jonathan Sexton kicked five penalties to clinch a 15-10 victory for Ireland in Dublin.
The wind wasn’t a factor at Croke Park but the 1 degree-temperature was always going to test a Springbok side that’s endured everything and more in 2009. They responded admirably, delivering a brutal display at scrum time and at the breakdown that gave those South Africans freezing in the cheap seats something to celebrate. Those who had put forth fatigue and the loss of Bakkies Botha as contributors to a Bok downfall must have been disappointed.
Surprisingly, it was at the lineout that the Boks struggled. The influence of Gert Smal, who just two years ago was working with John Smit and Victor Matfield, was patent as the Irish disrupted the Bok feed regularly. If not for the Boks’ dominance in other areas and the visitors’ heroic defence, Ireland may have led at half-time.
The Boks had to wait until the 12th minute for the first scrum, and it was something to behold. BJ Botha smashed opposite number Cian Healy and was well supported by the rest of the Bok pack, who rumbled forward and won several penalties on attacking ball.
Ireland flyhalf Sexton opened the scoring with a ninth-minute penalty, but it was the Boks, who were starved for both territory and possession, that scored the first and only try. From a scrum penalty, the Boks tapped quickly and looked to have butchered an opportunity before sending the ball back to the point of origin. Fourie du Preez, who had another splendid evening with the boot, showcased his invaluable vision by freeing up Jaque Fourie, who held up the pass for an unstoppable Schalk Burger to score. The man the Irish love to boo after the infamous eye-gouging incident hoofed the ball into the crowd after grounding the try.
Morne Steyn missed a few penalty punts to touch, but did some good things during the first half. He converted Burger’s try and slotted a drop goal to extend the visitors’ lead to 10-3 after 24 minutes.
But the scoreline didn’t tell the story. South Africa resisted a couple of Irish surges thanks to the defensive feats of Burger, Danie Rossouw and Wynand Olivier. Heinrich Brussow also obliged with some steals off his own line. Declan Kidney must have been fuming, while the South African coaches would have been breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Sexton narrowed the deficit to 10-6 on the 30-minute mark while the Bok flyhalf fluffed three successive penalty-attempts. Steyn failed to reach the poles twice at the end of the first half, and pushed another shot wide early in the second. On the whole, South Africa were outkicked by Sexton and Ireland’s phenomenal jack-of-all trades, Rob Kearney.
Another true strike by Sexton and errant tactical probe by Steyn, and you could sense a change in momentum. The dense fog that had threatened to settle since kickoff descended, but the crowd ignored the chill and expressed themselves through Gaelic song.
Andries Bekker was fortunate to escape a yellow card in the 51st minute when he dropped his knee onto the shoulder of an Irish player, but Sexton punished the Boks on the scoreboard. At 12-10, Ireland were in the lead.
The Boks defended bravely but continued to lose badly in the possession and territory stakes. Rossouw was caught after fielding a high ball, and it was South Africa’s good fortune that Sexton pushed the ensuing penalty shot wide.
Steyn was substituted for Ruan Pienaar on the hour, and Botha was also pulled from the front row. The first Bok scrum after the substitution saw the visitors shoved backwards, and the next breakdown resulted in a penalty for Ireland. The locals literally began dancing as Sexton bisected the uprights.
The five-point lead was substantial given South Africa’s battle to retain possession in opposition territory. You couldn’t see them mounting an assault on the Irish line in the time remaining, and with the kickers battling to find their radar, they couldn’t close the gap via penalties. Pienaar could do no better when asked to kick for goal, his attempt bouncing off the post.
Cruelly, for the green and gold faithful, the Boks did manage to get painstakingly close in last minute, but a magnificent Irish spot tackle killed the movement and the match.
The result renders the Boks’ tour a miserable failure with the most recent loss coming after defeats to Leicester, France and Saracens. It has been a long year, but none of the senior Boks will look back at November 2009 with any fond memories.
By Jon Cardinelli, in Dublin
November 28th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
@wallabie.: It scares the living **** out of me, but I agree. It is difficult though, when PDV started we were like headless chickens, then we are kick chase one trick ponies.
We need to find a balance. I think a backline coach with a bit of a backbone or a clue would help. DM’s Sharks in S14 were almost exactly the same. He turned the best SA backline into glorified chasers & defenders…
November 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Ireland was’nt that great, I thought their back-line lacked penetration. If they were more fired up we’d had real problems.
But well done to them, they showed great character and they have a good full back and a great new fly half.
Burger had one of his better games. Brussow was good but he plays better when in tandem with Bismarck. Daniesaurus had an ok game at 8.
I don’t know why we took of BJ Botha. Yes, I know I know, we wanted to fix Smit’s terrible throw ins. But then we should have taken off Smit.
I prefer de Villiers to Meisiekind, but the girl was having a good game. Why make many changes to a team that is doing well? And why do them almost simultaneously. I have yet to see a game where this works. Almost always we play significantly worse.
Kircherner had his best game yet for the Boks. Morne Steyn had his best game in defence.
Matfield was quiet.
All in all we looked tired. But we could have taken this if the coaches did not make rash decisions.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
@Boksarenumber2: Why is that how many Morne has?
November 28th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Mampara your name says what a twat you are just another doos *** SA mampara who can’t see past his blindfold
GET SHOT OF THE HAS BEENS OR SWALLOW LOT MORE PAINFUL POISON ALL THE WAY TO RWC 2011.
DO IT NOW OR SUFFER IN SILENCE.
kick and chase **** rugby strategy from Smit, & co. who was reading the calls on the field, how come Smit didn’t change the game plan that clearly weren’t working.
Get out, get proper rugby brains on the field, and drop FdP and M.Steyn before they disintegrate any last vestige of springbok running rugby absolutely stone cold dead.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
@Cheetah 4 Eva:
Apart from beating the AB`s 3 times, it was a rather average year. Even our performance against the Lions was average and could have gone either way (We were undercooked and were a bit lucky). The string of losses at the end of the year makes this year nothing special at all. Time for oldies like Smit to finish. We still have some time before the next world cup.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
@allamapstieks: Gotta disagree there. Bismark has not looked for a long time. He brought no go forward tonight.
Not sure why Deysel didn’t get a run, especially just for the blood bin. Our guys were tired, so we should have brought on some freshness with 25 to go. Although I thought our loosies were ok, so not sure who I would have taken off.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
skopskiet you REALLY are a chop. chill boet before your hernia arrives.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
@rangerman:
Crikey Ranger what a shambles 4 losses out of five games, thank god you beat the Italians.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
@Springbokvel:
The Bokke have peaked, we had no second row this year, free ride for the Bokke, next year will be a very different story – Williams / Jack to bolster the locks and Hayman back in the front row.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
lol jack? hes past his best.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
@Wezwp:
He’ll still win ball, and when we get 50% of the ball we beat you.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Wynand Olivier is rubbish.If he was darker he would’ve been called all sorts of names.Later guys,gotta watch the Aussies & the Welsh.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Anyone could see the leading players were tired today
November 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Ill put out Matfield andbotha and you bring out any of your locks. We needed this tour to bring us down to earth. We play better in the sh anyway. Wc 2011 is ours.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Today we saw the limits of the so-called structured game.
Before 2004 we’d only lost once to Ireland in 98 years. Now we are on our third straight loss in Ireland.
PdV got complacent and just relied on the same old tired game plan. Time to inject something new.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
PDV is more of a manager than a head coach
November 28th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
@Koos van der merwe: I agree. He’s now had 27 tests to prove himself. time for him to go back to S14 and CC where he is very good.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Im glad no one is calling for pdv’s head. Maybe racism is truly over in Sa.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
SCREW THIS BRING ON THE SUPER 14 !!!!!!!!!!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
@NZINCHINA:
As long as the travel is in your favour [s]
November 28th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
@Wezwp:
If people think PDV is not the best head coach in SA, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re racist
November 28th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
@sglazer:
Out of here, enjoy the Sunday papers tomorrow.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!
Good game boys, this is probably the best time in Irish Rugby history. Good to see the players hugging it out at the end as well.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
@NZINCHINA:
Hee hee. Cheers.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Lol mglazer has any other coach won a tri nations convincingly and beat the lions in a series in the space of six months.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
@Wezwp:
He arrived on the scene when a world-beating team had already been forged.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
i heard that the Springbok has been awarded Team of the Year by the IRB? Declan Kidney got coach of the year…
November 28th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
With that same world beating team NZ beat them at home mglazer.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
@Wezwp:
Brussow wasn’t even in the squad this year, let alone the team
November 28th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
@Wezwp:
Last year PDV started experimenting with that world-beating team. Remember?
November 28th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
all the Boks need is to fire the Racist Quota DecisionIncredibly USELESS Coach PDV has embarrassed SA rugby more than any coach in history.thank God for injuries the Boks were far superior without Adi Jacobs and Kankmowski
November 28th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Well done Ireland. Worthy winners.
Anyone got live feed for Aus vs Wales
November 28th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
@SodaJoe: check out this website, it’s a great alternative to the usual. you’ll need to install svpod player (or something, just click on the little penguin to install)
http(colon, double forward slash) live(dot)spvod(dot)com/live/200911/spvod17922_1(dot)htm
November 28th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
@bluealligator: I assume you’re joking.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
@bluealligator: At least they didn’t score 49 points!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
whats with the KEO quiz? we already know the Boks won team of the year
November 28th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
@AndrewBK: Thanks Andrew. Iwill give it a go. I have a feed, so I won’t risk it now.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Congratulations, Ireland. After impressive 3 Nations, the wheels have come off for the Boks, now 3 losses in a row to France and Ireland.
Best in the world? Not anymore.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
@Nils: i would say we probably are still the best team in the world, but just not by a very big margin.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
@AndrewBK: Very big probably.
You were after 3 Nations. Not in November, please.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
@bluealligator: Aha…you must’ve been waiting so long to post that comment this year hey?
November 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
hmmmm so ons het verloor en ek het geweet ons gaan verloor , maar ons moet dink aan ons spelers , maak nie saak wie ander se nie maar ons bly die beste as ons spelers nie so moeg is nie , die manne speel van begin jaar tot einde van die jaar so hulle moet moeg wees . Jammer ons kan nie deur die jaar toetse speel nie dan sou ons iets anders gesien het. Ons is die beste maar die manne is moeg en dis maar net so en klaar. Vlg jaar sal dinge weer beter gaan ! bokke bly bo as die afrigter sy kop gebruik
November 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
@bluealligator: Its not only the coach. Pdv showed he wants to play a different style but the squad cannot play to that style. We have heavy forwards that lack the upper body strength and backs that are big and can run fast in one direction but lack footwork. This limits us to being strong in the fixed plays and kick and run game. Watch how much work theozzie backs getthrough without the ball ,running all over the show toshift defences.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@mampara73:
26-6
November 28th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
We were beaten because we were predictable.
Again, teams that match us physically always have a great chance to win, particularly very hard forceful running straight at us.
Whichever brain-surgeon decided to take BJ Botha off has rocks in his head.
Worst game I have ever seen Victor Matfield play.
Bekker still lacks physical talents in the tight, and was rubbish in the lineout today.
Morne Up & Unders Up & Unders Up & Unders Up & Unders ….. tackled very well.
Ruan I am in love with the goal posts – those 3 points would have set up a win.
Schalk is a very good 7.
Danie Big Heart – no more miles left, thanks.
Smitty – did Bismarck give you throw in coaching. And sorry you’re still no 3. How much more proof do we want.
Wynand was ok. Fdp ok (by his standards poor). Habs & JPP ok. Zane much better – getting there.
Brussow again our best player.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
@SodaJoe: no probs… it’s the Supersport feed btw…
November 28th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Go Wallabies!!!
November 28th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
@AndrewBK: I will try it for Blacks. When I have a good feed I stick with it. It is FoxSports on mine.
Good game of rugby. Can’t seem to post on the thread though.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
At the end of the day it’s a wasted and embarrassing tour that should’ve been used to try and evolve the team for next year’s tri-nations. Instead we ran our veterans into the ground and showed the Aussies and Kiwis we are very beatable. Rugby has never made me angry till this Novemember.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
@Nils: yes fair enough, that last 3 games of the season we haven’t been, but who else can you say is the best side in the world?