By Lucky Vince Pienaar
➤ With 10 minutes to go.
Can South Africa lose this one? Absolutely. And their biggest enemy is overconfidence. Have the Boks been too casual, too aware of social media and the hype?
On the field, the South Africans have a team that very few people can have a serious problem with. Once again Kwagga Smith has to answer the doubters about his selection at number eight.
But, when all is said and done, the tight five will still give the Springboks the biggest advantage.
Willie le Roux, brilliant playmaker that he is, is known to make mistakes. Without doubt, Ireland will target him.
Ireland have suffered a significant setback with the injury to Jamison Gibson-Park, except for France’s Antoine Dupont, possibly the best scrumhalf in the world.
➤ First half.
Talk about the perfect start! After one minute, from loose play slick Bok-hands from Jesse Kriel and Siya Kolisi put Kurt-Lee Arendse into space and he does the neccessary. Pollard converts. (South Africa 7-0 Ireland)
Ireland shun an easy three points to go for the pushover try – and end up conceding a scrum.
So far, no luck for the Irish! Kolbie kicks a massive touch-finder down the line. Jamie Osborne can’t collect and concedes a lineout in the Irish side of the field.
Ireland score an easy penalty. (SA 7-3 Ire)
Pollard maintains his perfect kicking record since his first match of the World Cup with a simple penalty. (SA 10-3 Ire)
Twenty minutes gone and the Springbok go-forward is relentless. How long can the Irish hold on? They give Pollard another easy penalty. (SA 13-3 Ire)
Jack Crowley gets an easy penalty kick after a rare entry into the Springbok half – but he is no Pollard. He misses the shot. Pressure? Perhaps.
Ireland attack from within five metres until some magic from James Lowe puts Dan Sheehan into space for a try, giving Ireland a sliver of hope. Could this be a turning point? (SA 13-8 Ire)
Then the inevitable. Pollard misses an easy penalty.
➤ Second half.
Once again the Springboks are on the attack with Siysa Kolisi very prominent as ball carrier.
Pollard gets another penalty shot. He can’t miss it, can he? Yes, he can. Two easy misses from the great Handré Pollard.
The Boks have been in Ireland’s quarter for ten minutes and they’ve come away empty handed.
Then the bomb squad. Six Springbok forwards come on at the same time.
But Ireland beat back every attack. The Boks haven’t gone flat, have they?
Pollard has a third go at a penalty – and it’s miles outside the post. Nine points left on the table by Pollard.
The Boks have been playing mechanical rugby for the last ten minutes. The altitude is supposed to affect the visitors, isn’t it?
James Lowe taps a penalty back into the field of play but Cheslin Kolbie pounces on the loose ball, kicks it ahead and scores the kind of freakish try that Kolbie can conjure up when it matters.
Pollard, thankfully, aces the conversion. (SA 20-8 Ire)
Again the Boks have gone mechanical. Arendse takes one for team when he gets a yellow card he didn’t deserve.
Ireland have a try disallowed, but a minute later Conner Murray scores under the posts. (SA 20-15 Ire)
In the last minute the Springbok forwards get a penalty try from a dominant scrum but Ryan Baird immediately scores a consolation try. (SA 27-20 Ire)
South Africa 27-20 Ireland
Springboks tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbie, penalty try
Ireland tries: Jamie Osborne, Conor Murray, Ryan Baird
Pictured above: The Boks were triumphant over Ireland for the first time since 2016.
Source: @bokrugby
