AN EPIC CONTEST ended in Ireland’s favour at the Stade de France tonight, and South Africa had no complaints after Andy Farrell’s side delivered an emphatic performance to claim a 13-8 win.
The result leaves Ireland in a strong position to top their pool, with their next assignment a meeting with Scotland back in Paris on 7 October.
The Springboks face Tonga in Marseille next weekend and now appear to be on collision course with France in the quarter-finals. Speaking after the game, South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber said he felt Ireland were deserving winners.
”It was a proper test match. Like I said before the game, I think both teams would learn a lot from this game, the two best teams playing against each other, which is a great test and preparation going forward.
“Obviously hats off to Ireland, they were better than us on the day. Yes we missed a couple of points off the tee but I won’t say that’s the reason solely for not getting over the line. In the first half alone we lost two balls over the line, and another two in the second. So those four…
“There were opportunities we had, especially in the first half, and then again in the back end of the game, that maul.”
Nienaber highlighted Ireland’s work at the breakdown as an area where Farrell’s side managed to get the upper hand.
“I think that’s the one area where Ireland were exceptional tonight. That’s probably one of the biggest reasons we didn’t get over the line.
“We were overpowered at our own attacking breakdown and lost ball close to their tryline. 100%.
It’s not something we didn’t know was coming. We made some plans in the week that we thought would negate them at the breakdown but it didn’t work against them consistently. We’ll have to make plans to do it better.”
“Yeah, I thought they were more accurate than us today,” added South Africa captain Siya Kolisi.
“They are fast at the breakdown, a little bit quicker than us. We knew what was coming. We take full responsibility. Hopefully we’ll meet them again.
“As Jacques said, the intensity of the game was exactly what we needed. A lot of those players haven’t played in an atmosphere like that, and it was exactly what we needed as a group.”
Of course, it would be foolish to write off South Africa’s World Cup chances after tonight. In 2019, the Springboks lost a pool clash against New Zealand before going on to win the tournament.
“We can still (the World Cup),” Nienaber added.
“In 2019 did you think we could win the World Cup when we lost to New Zealand? Of course we can. Teams that lose a game in the pool stages must work hard to get out of the pool but definitely we can still win it.
“We played against the number one team in the world and lost by five points. Hats off to them, they were better than us on the night and that’s the bottom line. But that’s the number one team in the world, and we’re the number two team in the world.
“The margin is very small. We have to work hard at the stuff we weren’t so good at and if we can fix that and if we have a bit of luck – you always need a bit of luck – we can win the World Cup.”