ANY TRY AGAINST this Springboks team in a World Cup is worthy of celebration. They only conceded four tries in their seven games as they won the 2019 tournament – just one in the three knock-out matches – and defence guru Jacques Nienaber has continued to develop their system since.
So you can be sure that you’re not going to get too many gilt-edged opportunities against this South African side.
Ireland made four linebreaks on Saturday night in Paris but they were also on the receiving end of some oppressive Boks defence. 31 dominant tackles is an astonishing figure, even for the South Africans.
With that disruptive pressure coming from all angles, Ireland weren’t able to consistently be at their fluid best in Stade de France. The fact that the Irish lineout had a success rate of just 67% was prohibitive in terms of the attack, while Ireland had just 43% quick ball at the breakdown, meaning the ball coming out in less than three seconds.
And yet, the Irish attack fired enough shots to contribute strongly towards a win that was founded on resilience and grit.
Ireland’s opening attack of the game came after they’d had their first lineout stolen by Franco Mostert, only for James Ryan to cleverly react and intercept Mostert’s pop towards scrum-half Faf de Klerk.
Ireland launched into their phase attack in the Boks 22 and we immediately saw a clear tactic for this game.
The image above is a common one in Ireland’s game and in most teams’ games, with a pod of three forwards [which we'll refer to as the '3-pod' from now on] set up to play off the scrum-half.
Most of the time we see the scrum-half pass to the forward in the middle of the 3-pod, so number 6 Peter O’Mahony here, and he can carry, tip a short pass outside, tip a short pass inside, or swivel to sweep a pass to one of the Irish backs in behind.
However, in this instance, Jamison Gibson-Park passes to the widest forward in the pod, Tadhg Beirne.
Beirne carries here but he does have the option of dropping a ‘shoulder’ ball out the back to out-half Johnny Sexton, who darts behind him.
It’s fairly simple stuff from Ireland but it’s not the exact image that the Boks have seen when analysing them in these situations. In this case, the deception means Ireland avoid a two-on-one tackle on Beirne and get a quick recycle at the breakdown.
Just two phases later, we see an identical play as Ireland return to their right.
Again, O’Mahony is the obvious recipient of Gibson-Park’s pass at the centre of the 3-pod. Sexton is set up in behind.
But for the second time, the ball whistles across the face of O’Mahony to Beirne.
It’s clear how the pass catches the Boks slightly off guard and Beirne makes another positive carry for more quick ball.
The Boks give up a penalty advantage on the next phase before we get another example of the Irish tactic as they bounce back to their left.
It’s Tadhg Furlong on the outside edge of the 3-pod this time, but we can see above how Ryan and O’Mahony both show strong animation as if they’re ready to catch the pass that will actually find Furlong.
And this time, with advantage playing, Furlong drops the shoulder ball off to Sexton, who then has another pod of two forwards outside him but opts to go out the back to Bundee Aki.
The Boks manage Ireland’s attack well here, with Pieter-Steph du Toit swimming through the 2-pod to tackle Aki behind the gainline.
We then see a smart little play from Beirne, who stoops as if to pick the ball and carry at the fringe of the breakdown.
It’s a dummy from Beirne, who leaves the ball where it is and darts forward to attract Boks number eight Jasper Wiese.
Beirne’s smart dummy gives Gibson-Park a little more time and space to fire away his pass to Sexton, whose longer pass towards Mack Hansen is picked off.
Ireland go back to their penalty advantage and opt to kick into the corner, where their second lineout of the night is stolen by du Toit for a frustrating end to a promising early spell in the Boks 22.
Still, the deception from Ireland is smart. These kinds of disguised passes have become increasingly common in Ireland’s attack, albeit not within their 3-pods. That specific tactic was something New Zealand did against Ireland last summer.
Last weekend, with Farrell’s men losing their next two lineouts, they had to wait until the 12th minute to launch a genuine attack in the Springboks’ half.
The initial phases of their power play don’t yield a linebreak but Ireland then strike despite a very slow recycle at the breakdown. The ball emerges after a full eight seconds, but Ireland make a break even off that.
As Ryan carries for Ireland, we can see that Sexton is organising the next phase, initially calling for the 3-pod to set up to the left of the ruck…
And then demanding more layers out the back of that 3-pod…
And as Ireland fight to leave the ball available for Gibson-Park to play, we can see the shape they have found to his left.
Again, Sexton [blue above] is set up behind the 3-pod [red].
Outside Sexton, hooker Rónan Kelleher [pink] is ready to run a short front-door option for his out-half, which will be important in occupying Boks centre Jesse Kriel as Ringrose [black] bounces out behind Kelleher to takes Sexton’s pass.
Another important element here is the work from Hansen [yellow below] swinging over from the right-hand side, where O’Mahony holds the touchline to occupy defenders in the shortside.
Hansen will be key in giving Ringrose time to make a stunning pass.
But first, Gibson-Park once again goes to the edge forward in the 3-pod, with Caelan Doris then playing the shoulder ball to Sexton.
Sexton goes out the back of Kelleher to Ringrose, who now has Hansen popping up on his outside shoulder.
As tends to be the case, Boks right wing Kurt-Lee Arendse [yellow below] blitzes up high to get into Ringrose’s eyeline and dissuade him from trying a long pass to Aki.
As Libbok [orange above] swings up from the backfield to close on Aki, the presence of Hansen is crucial in giving Ringrose time on the ball. In the split second above, Arendse can’t just try to smash Ringrose ball-and-all. Arendse has to worry about a short pass to Hansen, expecting Kriel to get to Ringrose.
Indeed, Arendse reads onto Hansen as Ringrose pumps a dummy pass, glides forward, pumps another dummy to make Kriel sit off him but also fully ensure Libbok has fully closed up onto Aki,
Ringrose then throws a quite sensational ‘bridge’ pass over Kriel and the slipping Libbok to Hugo Keenan.
This is a genuinely beautiful bit of skill and composure from Ringrose given the proximity of several Boks defenders, who have come forward at breakneck speed.
It takes bravery to throw these dummy passes when the prospect of getting smashed is so strong.
Ringrose could just tuck and carry, but he can see the space beckoning for Keenan.
What’s crucial is how Ringrose’s pass doesn’t float high up into the air and hang there, allowing the Boks’ hard-working ‘catch-up’ defenders to race across and get a good tackle onto Keenan.
Ringrose generates excellent velocity from this tough spot too, using a violent whip of his upper body and arms to fire the pass just over Kriel.
Ringrose’s pass means that du Toit – who often makes excellent catch-up tackles in these situations – can’t get to Keenan, whose pace takes him clear of du Toit.
Keenan almost pirouettes away from Kriel as he fires up a right-handed fend, but the Boks centre does just enough to haul down Ireland’s fullback short of the line, preventing a stunning try.
And frustratingly for Ireland, they turn the ball over on the next phase.
Doris makes a strong carry off Kelleher’s pass from the base but as he looks to place the ball, it collides with tackler Mostert and rolls forward.
Ireland ask referee Ben O’Keeffe to take another look at how the ball came loose, but the match officials are happy that it’s an Irish knock-on and Farrell’s men leave empty-handed.
Ireland’s next visit into the Boks 22 ended with another turnover as Arendse struck at the breakdown after an Aki carry from a left-hand-side lineout.
Boks tighthead Frans Malherbe does a good job of buying time for Arendse to jackal, grabbing at Gibson-Park and then impeding Josh van der Flier’s access to the breakdown. Lowe ends up ahead of the tackle as he possibly looks for an offload from Aki.
Arendse earns the penalty and Ireland will have been disappointed with their lack of aggression and urgency in getting to him.
Ireland have to wait more than 10 minutes to return to the Boks 22 and it stems from Aki’s huge linebreak through Libbok’s missed tackle that we highlighted in this piece.
Aki then makes more inroads after a delightful pass from Sexton, who shapes to kick but lifts another bridge pass over de Klerk to send his centre down the left.
Ireland win a penalty from this burst and they go into the corner for what proves to be their only try of the game.
From the lineout win in the left corner, they initially carry infield through van der Flier, Aki, O’Mahony, and Doris, but they struggle to make great inroads until they add a little more subtlety to their play.
As they bounce back to the left, we get yet another example of Gibson-Park hitting the edge of the 3-pod as Sexton darts behind.
The combined effect is that O’Mahony gets an initial one-on-one carry against de Klerk, whose tackle he beats to edge Ireland forward.
Ireland zig-zag back to their right next and there is another layer of deception to the next carry.
Gibson-Park has a 3-pod to his right, but he also has van der Flier [pink below] running a disguised line further outside.
Gibson-Park throws an excellent pass and van der Flier catches the Boks off guard to power over the gainline again.
While van der Flier greatly adds to Ireland’s forward momentum, his carry is also vital because it condenses the Boks’ defence.
As van der Flier carries, the Boks are left with just four viable defenders on their left-hand side of the tackle.
And as tends to be the case, Sexton is a step ahead and has already been on the move to exploit the defensive situation.
Even before the ball is in van der Flier’s hands, we can see below that Sexton is moving across from the shortside to the openside. He appears to be calling for left wing Lowe to come with him.
As Sexton [blue below] moves across, he pushes centre Robbie Henshaw into a midfield position, while Lowe [yellow] starts to track across to trail Sexton.
And while still on the move, Sexton then calls a loop play to Henshaw and fullback Keenan, to whom Sexton signals to run a short, hard line outside Henshaw.
This is typical Sexton, recognising that the Boks are going to be low on defensive numbers but still coming forward with linespeed. He fancies a loop play to give Ireland time and space to finish.
It very nearly works as Sexton gets the ball back from Henshaw, dummies a pass to Lowe on his outside shoulder to invite Cheslin Kolbe to sit off him, then darts for the line himself.
It takes another brilliant effort from Kriel, tracking back after first lining up Henshaw, to stop Sexton from scoring.
Happily for Ireland, they get over on the next phase. Again, off-the-ball work is pivotal in getting across the line.
As Sexton is running the loop play, we can see O’Mahony [red below] swinging all the way from the left of the van der Flier breakdown over to the right.
That leaves O’Mahony in position as the possible first receiver on the right as good breakdown work from Henshaw ensures Ireland recycle after Sexton’s carry.
O’Mahony [red below] is a possible carrier off Gibson-Park when the actual recipient of his pass will be Lowe [yellow], with Gibson-Park’s longer pass taking four Boks fringe defenders totally out of the equation.
O’Mahony’s presence ever so slightly attracts Libbok’s eyes in on him [red arrow above], meaning a hint of delay in advancing towards Lowe [yellow] as Gibson-Park’s excellent pass goes to Lowe.
With Lowe now a threat to carry through Libbok for the try, Boks fullback Damian Willemse bites in on Lowe too, as highlighted below.
Penalty advantage is playing here after the Boks edged offside on the phase before, trying to shut down Sexton’s loop, but it’s still excellent composure and skill from Lowe to put Hansen away.
Receiving the ball standing still usually isn’t a good thing but it’s very smart from Lowe here as he allows Willemse to close in on him.
Lowe stretches out his hands to receive the ball as early as possible and then smoothly transfers it across his body in one motion, and pushes it through with great power to Hansen, hitting the right wing nearly 15 metres away despite the lack of time to wind up. It might look simple but this is another high-quality pass under pressure.
There are a few Irish hearts in mouths as Hansen turns infield past Libbok in the in-goal area to make Sexton’s conversion easier and gets close to the deadball line.
But there’s clearly no doubt whatsoever about the finish and Hansen’s effort is crucial in bringing Sexton several metres closer to the posts.
Sexton nails his conversion for a 7-3 Ireland lead that holds into half time.
Ireland did have one last visit into the Boks’ 22 before the break and the initial phases were promising before Ryan was adjudged to have knocked the ball on after his carry, even if he seemed to argue the ball had been stripped on the ground after the tackle.
Still, going in at half time in front was important to Ireland. As we detailed elsewhere, the second half wasn’t one in which Ireland’s attack featured prominently but they got the job done in a different way.
