Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus broke his duck and his side dominated the game for large swathes as they won an ill-tempered and somewhat bizarre contest 24-13 in Dublin on Saturday night.
The Boks dominated a game where Ireland tried to stop them at all costs, and which saw five yellow cards and a red, but which left a bad taste in the mouth. There is certainly no love lost between the two sides and that was more than apparent on the night.
But while the Boks would be disappointed they couldn’t turn the unbelievable dominance into points, Ireland finished stronger and had the Boks concede two yellows at the end as they groun out the game.
It was a bizarre game in all aspects - not just because of the cards. Referee Matthew Carley did his best to keep control on the match, but it was clear that Ireland were intent on doing everything in their power not to lose and infringe almost at will.
If a neutral hadn’t seen the game and heard of all the cards, they might well think that it was a very over-judicious referee that had taken charge and gone overboard. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if the one-eyed Irish papers see it that way.
SCRUM DOMINANT
But the Bok scrum churned out penalty after penalty in their complete obliteration of the Irish scrum, the lineout dominated Ireland and they couldn’t get on the gain line. And yet, while the Boks had put away both the All Blacks and Argentina and France in similar circumstances, with less dominance, they found it hard against Ireland.
Perhaps there is something about the Irish psyche that is so similar to the Boks. The backs-against-the-wall refusal to give in, or the sheer desperation to stay in the contest. But either way Ireland need to be given credit for how they stayed in the fight and how, against all odds, they kept the Boks out.
Match report: It wasn't pretty, but the #Springboks' power game was ultimately too much for Ireland to handle - more here: https://t.co/AQ3TxwtjhV 👊#ForeverGreenForeverGold #IREvRSA pic.twitter.com/zJfcmAoO4C
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 22, 2025
At one stage, the Boks continued to churn out scrum penalty after scrum penalty, but they possibly did it too long. The intent seemed to be clear. Already 11 points in the lead, this wasn’t about winning the game, it was about hurting Ireland for the pain they had caused the Boks.
It won’t be forgotten that Ireland have won four out of the last five contests, including the World Cup pool game, and those scrums seemed to be soothing relief for all of that pain.
Perhaps though the Boks took it too far, because with every knock on and every mistake, the Irish belief grew. A nation accustomed to fighting for their survival took over and they crossed every line and used every trick in the book to stay on top. And it almost worked.
To be fair, there would be few outside the Emerald Isle that would have thought they could have mounted the biggest comeback, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
FAILED TO LAND KNOCKOUT BLOW
The Boks, so used to getting on top and finishing off opposition this season, found themselves with a plethora of ball and didn’t plant the knockout blow. They did a lot of damage to the foundations of Irish rugby, but not enough to leave it lasting. The win will be savoured for its brutality, but it won’t stop the Irish from believing they will be back to contest another day.
Perhaps it was too much to ask, but this certainly was a Springbok performance worthy of a 30 point victory on dominance alone. The fact they never got there perhaps is a good thing, but it is also a point of concern.
They have broken their duck in Dublin under Rassie Erasmus, and Ireland hardly look like the heavyweight opposition in two years time in Australia, but they remain a very good side. The Boks will take away several things from the game, not the least that they have Ireland’s number and in a big way. The scoreboard hardly reflects the difference between the two sides and for the Boks that may be a good thing in the long run.
But ditto for the Boks, who will be pondering how they didn’t put away and Irish side with 12 players on the field at one stage, and how they ended the game on their own tryline defending like demons.
Considering they converted just one of their four tries, the scoreline with good kicking would have looked a lot better in any case.
EARLY TRY
Still, given that Ireland started strong, the fact the Boks hit the front early, thanks to some stellar footwork from Damian de Allende, and beautiful passing from Cheslin Kolbe and Jasper Wiese to put Damian Willemse in with a one-handed dive into the corner, was more than satisfying.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was extremely lucky a few minutes later to get away with a no-arms tackle on Tommy O’Brien, especially as the Boks have seen red for that in the past few weeks. Irish fans could easily point to the discrepancy, which Matthew Carley found was only worthy of a penalty because the initial contact was on the shoulder.
Ireland hit back with Caelan Doris going over, but the television match officer spotted an illegal cleanout by James Ryan on Malcolm Marx, with the Irish lock connecting with Marx’s head and the try was disallowed.
Given the red cards the Boks received in the past two weeks, this should have been a permanent red on that alone, but it was rightly adjudged a bunker yellow with it later being upgraded to a 20-minute red for the cleanout. Ryan can rightly expect a number of weeks on the sidelines for the incident.
O’Brien was lucky a few minutes later when he came off second from Canan Moodie’s charge, but was upright and had head contact. Carley decided it wasn’t worthy of a review, even though we’ve seen more than a number of those go upstairs in the past.
REINACH TRY
Boan Venter’s try was denied from a forward pass but it wasn’t long afterwards that Cobus
Reinach spotted a massive gap and darted through to put the Boks into double figures.
In the process, Sam Prendergast saw yellow for repeated infringements but even though they were down to 14, Ireland managed to find the tryline, with Ryan Beard through a gap and the recycled ball sending Dan Sheehan over. At 12-7 it hardly reflected the status of the game.
The Boks replaced their props in the 39th minute, after Jack Crowley knocked the ball out of Reinach’s hands in a ruck and was yellow carded for his efforts.
The power scrum took its toll, forcing Carley to give the Boks a penalty try and send them into the break 19-7 up.
The scrum kept pummeling Ireland, so much so that it was an easy fend off from a demolished Irish scrum that sent Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu over for his try.
Prendergast grabbed three points again to reduce the deficit to 11. The Boks spent the next 20 minutes in the Irish 22, smashing them, and grinding the advantage home in the scrum, but just couldn’t add any points.
IRISH FIGHTBACK
And as it often does, it rallied the Irish to fight back, and fight back in the final minutes in the Bok half. They never succeeded, but Grant Williams was yellow carded in the latter stages as Carely had had enough.
The Boks held out for a win they will celebrate, but a game that will be remembered for the bizarre cards and countless penalties more than anything else.
Still, the Boks have achieved their aims from the European tour and Erasmus has won in Dublin. There are a significant amount of milestones under the belt and the damage via the scrum has been done.
The scoreline won’t bother the Boks much, save for the fact they could have scored 30 more points. But their win, and the brutality of it will matter.
And they will end the year as the world’s best team in every aspect.
Scorers
Ireland - try: Dan Sheehan. Conversion: Sam Prendergast. Penalties: Prendergast (2).
South Africa - tries: Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Penalty try, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Conversion: Feinberg-Mngomezulu