Gavan Casey

Mack Hansen — 7: Made a bright start at fullback but faded out of the game in an attacking sense when shifted to the right wing after Tommy O’Brien’s HIA, from which point Ireland had precious little ball with which to do anything. Excellent in defence, as is nearly always the case.

Tommy O’Brien — 6: Had a poor kick out on the full on 24 minutes but a couple of exciting attacking bursts, one of which saw him take a double hit from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Sacha Feingberg-Mngomezulu. Withdrawn on half an hour after a head knock in contact with carrier Canan Moodie, which was a pen against Ireland.

Garry Ringrose — 6: Made a nice kick into the backfield early and contributed tidily to some promising Irish attack in the opening quarter. Like many Irish players, Ringrose gave a selfless effort but had few standout moments in what proved an insurmountable task due to the hosts’ set-piece troubles.

Bundee Aki — 6: See above, by and large. Decent carry to tee up Dan Sheehan’s try.

James Lowe — 7: Physical and explosive when allowed, and combined with Jack Crowley to deny a Springbok try with a hold-up over the line. Poor penalty concession for tackling Willemse in the air on 12 minutes, but one of Ireland’s more impactful attackers on a day on which they were broadly stunted by the brilliant Boks.

Sam Prendergast — 6: Made up for a poor early miss from the tee with a sound place-kicking display thereafter. Kicking from hand was a touch erratic, and while his long-range passing eventually drifted into similar territory, Ireland were in Hail Mary mode at that point. Had a few sublime skip passes in the third quarter and wasn’t found lacking in defence. Prendergast was the fall guy for his yellow — it could have been any of about six Irish players who had infringed in the build-up to the same South African score.

Jamison Gibson-Park — 7: Missed his tackle on Sacha Feingberg-Mngomezulu which led to a Boks try but was otherwise his assured self in what was a chaotic game. His clearance to halfway under pressure on his own line on 52 mins lifted a siege, and his role in Dan Sheehan’s try was understated but inch-perfect.

1. Andrew Porter (Leinster) – 5: Came out decidedly second best against Thomas du Toit and Wilco Louw in the scrum, but was himself the fall guy for Ireland’s scrum massacre — his yellow card arguably belonged to Tadhg Furlong. Had some significant moments in the loose and helped to halt a rolling Bok maul just shy of the half-hour mark.

Dan Sheehan — 6: Took his try well shortly before half-time but otherwise not Sheehan’s most impactful day in the loose, and had an early lineout wobble with which he was pinged for a crooked throw.

Tadhg Furlong — 4: Endured a career-worst day against Boan Venter, at least in the eyes of referee Matthew Carley. Gave it socks in the loose as always, but Ireland’s scrum ultimately cost them a chance to win the game and most of the pressure was applied on Furlong’s side while he was on the field.

James Ryan — 4: A disastrous decision by Ryan to attempt the clear-out that he did on Malcolm Marx. A deserved 20-minute red card ended his day before it really began.

Tadhg Beirne — 6: Made a rousing counter-ruck turnover on 23 minutes and had a try disallowed, but Beirne was otherwise well shackled by South Africa and wasn’t as involved as a jumper in Ireland’s attacking lineout as would typically be the case.

Ryan Baird — 7: Made one potentially try-saving steal on 50 minutes and integral to a choke tackle that led to a precious Irish scrum a minute later. Not quite as impactful in attack as he has been so far this November.

Josh van der Flier –- 8: Led Ireland’s forwards in carries (10) and metres gained (32), and was second only to Caelan Doris in tackles made (12). It’s not the aspect of his game for which he’s renowned, but Van der Flier was one of Ireland’s few constant gainline threats while providing his usual diligence in defence and on the ground.

Caelan Doris (Captain) — 6: One explosive early carry for a small gain aside, was neutralised by South African double hits in attack. Had a couple of frustrating turnovers but huge in defence, making 14 tackles.

Replacements:

Rónan Kelleher (Sheehan 55′) — 6: A similar kind of performance to that of Ireland’s starter Sheehan.

Paddy McCarthy (Van der Flier 40′; Porter 60′) — 6: Made a try-saving turnover inside his own 5′ on 49 minutes, and a couple of booming carries. Like Porter, yellow-carded at scrum-time, but the dice had well and truly been cast in South Africa’s favour at that point.

Finlay Bealham (Furlong 60′) — 6: An improvement on Furlong’s nightmarish outing.

Cian Prendergast (Ryan, red card 20′) — 6: Dropped a restart after his younger brother reduced the arrears to nine points early in the second half, and then contributed to the botching of another, which was infuriating given the Boks’ scrum dominance. But the older Prendergast made a huge steal inside his own 5′ on 56 minutes and also stole a lineout in a performance of extremes, good and bad.

Jack Conan (Baird 60′) — 7: Made a few dents in the final quarter and might have come on sooner, albeit Baird had made a couple of key interventions shortly before he was withdrawn through injury.

Craig Casey (Ringrose 72′) –- 6: Added some characteristic chaos and tempo in the final throes.

Jack Crowley (O’Brien 31′) — 6: A flat-out silly yellow card for a ruck infringement — eerily similar to that which he committed in Munster’s 2023 URC final — blighted an otherwise heroic defensive performance. Saved a Springbok try with James Lowe; then made a sensational recovery and escape on 70 minutes before another exhausted effort to thwart Moody on the retreat just a minute later.

Tom Farrell (Hansen 64′) — 6: Didn’t particularly affect the game positively or negatively upon his introduction — on live viewing, at least. Ireland’s backs had very little opportunity to bend the game in the hosts’ favour.