– Rory Keane reports from Ellis Park, Johannesburg
RORY BEST HAS pretty much seen it all at this stage, but the Ireland captain has never experienced a heart-breaking defeat of this magnitude.
Having stormed into a 19-3 half-time lead, Joe Schmidt’s side looked on course to take out the series 2-0 and secure their place in history.
The visitors would subsequently leak 29 second-half points as the Springboks cranked up the intensity in the final quarter of a pulsating encounter.
“Obviously, it’s very tough to take,” said Best following his side’s 32-26 loss at Ellis Park.
“I think for large parts for the first two thirds of the game, we did everything we could.
“We were physical, we got off the line, we held the ball well and I think just to give up that lead, a lot those things which we feel we can control and things we talked about doing, we didn’t do.
“They got around the corner, they carried and we started to soak tackles which is something that, even before we left Dublin, we talked about it — that if we get physically get beaten up by South Africa around the fringes, we’re going to be on the back foot and if you go on the back foot against a team like this you’re going to be struggling.”
Leading 26-10 with 18 minutes remaining, Best and co looked on course for a third consecutive victory against the Boks after their 2014 win in Dublin and last weekend’s 14-man triumph in Cape Town.
Playing 5,700 feet above sea level may have had a telling factor in the last quarter as a weary looking Irish side began to drop off tackles.
“No, look we have some of the best conditioning staff around in Ireland and in the provinces and we really back our fitness,” replied the Ulster hooker.
“We talked about it as well. There’s a fair few of the South African players that play their provincial rugby at sea level too so it was same factor for everyone but we won’t be looking for excuses like that.
“We really back our fitness and I think when you look at it, it wasn’t that we were in the wrong position. We just, whether it was mentally, just switched off a little bit and started to soak tackles.”
This Irish squad will not have long to dwell on this loss. Schmidt’s men will depart for Port Elizabeth in the morning and try to get themselves ready, emotionally and physically, for a series decider at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next Saturday.
“It’s incredibly frustrating and disappointing, but we know now that it’s 1-1. We go to Port Elizabeth with a chance to win a Test series over here,” Best added.
“I think the important thing over the next 24 hours is that we have to take this loss on the chin. You sometimes have to let these losses dwell in you a little bit and come out the other side stronger.
“We’ll look back and I’m sure there’s a lot of boys in that changing room who won’t be looking forward to the review come Monday morning.
“But it’s something that we know as a squad and a team that that’s what makes you stronger, it’s learning from that and knowing that, if we get ourselves in that position next week, we don’t make the same errors we did this week.
“It’s going to be a big investment for us, but ultimately we came here to win a Test series and we’re in with a shout of doing that.
“We’ll hurt for a little bit, then we’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll take a big stride forward to try and improve the last quarter next week.”
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