Defiant Ireland stun Springboks 20-26
A vibrant Newlands stadium in Cape Town, South Africa saw a defiant Ireland stun the Springboks in an historic victory for the emerald greens. Their first ever victory on South African soil.
Ireland beat South Africa by 20-26 despite playing with 14 men for 57 minutes of the game. Many of their players were outstanding, including Ulsterman Paddy Jackson who was devastating brilliant, with a personal haul of 16-points on the night.
You cannot take anything away from the Irish, they played with pride and passion and were amazingly able to defend their line and not give away a single point when down to 13-men at one point. It showed incredible resolve and they were deserved winners.
Springbok Implosion
But Ireland didn’t craft this win out of tactical superiority alone, or sustained pressure in key areas of the field. Ireland didn’t shut down the South African attack with pinpoint accuracy on defense, or superiority at the breakdown. The Springboks did that ‘all by themselves’.
In an implosion of unprecedented proportions the Springboks handed the game to Ireland. The home team were gifted 56% possession and chose to run with it. They ran for 585 meters in the game, most of it across the field laterally in the hands of an ineffective Willie Le Roux.
Those tactics forced Ireland to make 166 tackles and put enough pressure on them to slip through 19 of them, only to ‘botch the play’ with a grand total of 22 handling errors on the day.
The Boks weren’t too bothered hanging onto the ball either, their enigmatic ‘fetcher’ Francois Low forced just one turnover over the 80 minute fiasco, the only one for South Africa. Whereas Ireland; who lost their flanker after 23 minutes, managed to turn over opposition ball over nine times. A significant difference in the end.
Bok Tactical Naivety
A toddler running toward an ice cream on a beach understands the concept of spacial awareness, so why Adriaan Strauss decided the best tactical plan against a 14-man opposition was to ‘run directly into heavy traffic’ is astounding. It failed horribly and drew boo’s and whistles from the large crowd on hand.
South Africa kicked 14 times out of hand in the game, compared to Irelands 34. With a numerical advantage (after an Irish player was sent off for a carelessly taking a player out) the home side needed to create set-play and structure that would stretch the defense, and a hole was bound to open up sooner or later for the hosts. They implemted the wrong tactics and it cost them.
The Springboks expected Ireland to ‘roll over and die’ after the red card–maybe because that’s what they would have done–but Ireland refused. They played with heart and collective passion while the Springboks dropped the ball.
Massive Physical Performance from Ireland
Ireland captain Rory Best said after the game, “We knew to come here and get a victory would be unbelievably tough and require a massive physical performance.”
“We dug really deep to get that win. If we had sat back and kept giving them ball we would have eventually run out of steam, so we had to take the game to them. There are a lot of tired boys who are running on empty now after the euphoria of the win.”
The image of head coach Joe Schmidt and his men smiling with pride will bolster their chances of a second victory, and even more history.
Lack of Springbok Leadership
This first test match showed a complete and utter ‘lack of leadership’ on-and-off the field for the Springboks. Adriaan ‘Houdini’ Strauss was seen at the coin toss and then again at the post match conference–he was a complete non-factor and [to some] a disappointment as a Springbok captain, to say the very least.
As much as Duane Vermuelen and Francois Louw spoke of their passion and dedication for the green and gold, they could just as well have stayed in Europe. They contributed very little and rather looked like they were laboring through a drawn-out ‘dinner with the in-laws’. If anything, Morne Steyn needs to be recalled to the Springbok team. He has been in exemplary form in Europe, and with exception of one misguided kick against Australia under Heineke Meyer, Steyn has not put a foot wrong in the green and gold.
Former Springbok Rob Louw commented on twitter:
If players can not get motivated to pull on the Bok jersey in front of a packed Newlands crowd something is wrong !
— Rob Louw (@roblouw6) June 11, 2016
Something is indeed ‘rotten in the state of Denmark’ and it will take nothing less than a 30-point thrashing at Ellis Park in the second test, to start removing the stench of this performance.
Springbok supporter Jaco van Zyl said after the game “Absolute disaster! We didn’t lose, we were disgraced. We saw no leadership out there tonight. I can’t say Allister Coetzee (new Springbok coach) is the right man for the job but he’s only been there for a month, I have milk in the fridge that’s older than that. We need to hunt for a new captain.”
Hometown supporters are demanding retribution and their ‘pound of flesh’ for what was nothing short of a national embarrassment. Aside from the Springboks falling asleep ‘drunk at the wheel’ to provide Ireland with a piece of history and the first test advantage, the biggest talking point after the game is the debate around the CJ Stander sending off.
CJ Stander Red Card
At the point of impact, you need to be in a position to catch or compete for the ball. If a dangerous situation is created, and the player is not in a competitive position, regardless of the intent or circumstance, then it is deemed foul play. Foul play that places at risk, the head or neck of a player, it is a red card offence. The meaning of this rugby law is pretty cut-and-dry then.
Yes Stander was putting pressure on Lambie for a [potential] charge-down and yes, if Lambie had not been struck in the head (been taken out of play) it could have potentially been [possibly] a yellow, if even that.
But as the footage shows in countless replays, Stander turned his hips as the ball passed (a natural reaction in play), his hip connected with Lambie’s head and neck region with massive velocity. This created a dangerous situation for potential serious injury to the player. Patrick Lambie took no further part in the game–may not play in the second test, as a result. It looked, and was, nasty.
The referee’s first requirement here is to check if Stander was in ‘a position to compete for the ball at the point of impact’. He was not, and thus the red card was given on TMO review.
The law may be absurd, but it was applied correctly as it is written.
Refereeing Consistency
Leolin Zas was red carded against the Waratahs earlier this year, when his foot slipped while jumping to compete for a high ball. As he (Zas) fell he took out the player in the air, who rotated in mid-air and landed heavily on the head and neck area. A red card was issued; regardless of the intent or circumstance, which were clearly not deliberate or within Zas’ physical control. The similarity between his infringement and Stander’s was the outcome–a player injured and the offender off the park.
The last two years, commentators have seen a lot of heat land on referees from players and spectators alike. The unanimous call was for consistency in applying the laws of the game. Referee Mathieu Raynal has done exactly what officils have asked of him, to be consistent in applying the laws World Rugby enforce. Protection of player welfare and to remove the act of ‘taking out players’ after the kick or in the air.
Jonathan Kaplan has already come out to disagree with the on-field call, not surprising as he also stood against the Zas red card. Rugby is unique in that it has laws and not rules. Laws are subject to ‘interpretation’ within the context of the contravention, but in this case [for most] there is no room for an interpretation of context.
It will be interesting to see how this debate progresses.
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SCORERS
Ireland 26 – Tries: Jared Payne, Conor Murray; Conversions: Paddy Jackson (2); Penalties: Paddy Jackson (3); Drop-goal: Paddy Jackson.
South Africa 20 – Tries: Lwazi Mvovo, Pieter-Steph du Toit; Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2); Penalties: Pat Lambie and Elton Jantjies.
“Main photo credit”
