Ireland fall just short in first Test as Springboks prevail in Pretoria

Ireland have a chance to bounce back in Durban next weekend, but their hopes of claiming a historic first series win in South Africa fell agonisingly short at a pulsating Loftus Versfeld.

Andy Farrell’s men stuck in a contest that they were second best in for the most part, and while they were hanging on for dear life at various stages, Ireland will believe they can level the series.

Player ratings as Ireland lose to South Africa

Had James Lowe’s try on the hour mark not been chalked off, we might have been looking at a different outcome. The hosts brought their trademark aggression in contact, while the revamped attack under new Kiwi guru Tony Brown caused plenty of problems, particularly out wide.

Ireland’s cause was not helped by losing hooker Dan Sheehan and centre Robbie Henshaw to injury at half-time, before scrum-half Craig Casey was stretchered off following a nasty blow to the head.

Casey had been having a fine game up to that point, with debutant Jamie Osborne also stepping up following a tricky start.

Osborne and Kurt-Lee Arendse traded first-half tries, as both out-halves, Handre Pollard and Jack Crowley endured a night to forget with the kicking tee.

Ireland’s scrum largely showed up well, with Caelan Doris, Josh ver der Flier, Tadhg Beirne and Bundee Aki making their presence felt in what was a ferocious breakdown battle.

Ultimately, though, Ireland’s wait for a series win in South Africa goes on, and while they can salvage a draw next Saturday, they had much greater ambitions.

Osborne had a couple of early nerve-settling involvements, but the 22-year-old found himself in an unenviable position on three minutes as Arendse left him for dead with a devastating step off his left. Ireland’s defence was caught too narrow, and with the Boks now given more licence to play to width, Arendse's blistering pace saw him run clear unopposed.

Pollard’s conversion compounded the worst possible start for the visitors, but they bounced back and almost came up with the ideal response, but Joe McCarthy knocked on close to the South African line.

Despite the missed opportunity, Ireland ensured that their bright spell was rewarded, as Crowley kicked a 12th minute penalty, which was quickly cancelled out when Pollard punished McCarthy for not rolling away.

Farrell’s side were living dangerously, and when Pollard knocked over a second penalty for 13-3, you feared that the Boks could pull even further clear.

Those fears were enhanced when Crowley followed up a kick out on the full with a poor missed penalty in front of the posts, but Ireland’s resilience hauled them back into it.

Turning down a shot at goal, Ireland went to the corner, claimed the lineout and worked their way through the phases before Crowley floated a lovely skip-pass to Sheehan whose clever reverse pass set Lowe away.

The Leinster winger did brilliantly to keep his feet in play and have the wherewithal to pass back on the inside for Osborne, who marked his international debut by finishing a superb try.

Crowley’s touchline conversion drifted wide, with Pollard suffering a similar fate just before the break, as he pushed a kickable penalty, which meant that for all their dominance, the Boks had to settle for a 13-8 lead at half-time.

There must have been something in the thin Pretoria air because the kicking yips continued shortly after the restart, as Pollard missed another chance to extend his side’s advantage.

Sensing Ireland were hanging on, Erasmus looked to his bench and on 50 minutes called on all six of his forward replacements.

Despite South Africa ringing the changes, it was Ireland who found their second wind, and they thought they had pulled level when Lowe ran clear from his own half, only for the TMO to spot that Rónan Kelleher had played the ball on the ground in the lead up.

It was a sickener for Ireland, but with Pollard missing another shot at goal, they remained in the hunt as we hit the closing quarter.

A lengthy stoppage for Casey’s injury gave everyone a breather but Cheslin Kolbe looked to have made sure of the win after Lowe attempted to keep a Pollard kick in play.

Pollard rediscovered his radar before a crazy finish to the game began with Conor Murray scoring a converted try to bring Ireland to within five points, only for the 14-man Boks to respond with a penalty try on the back of a Lowe error, as Kelleher followed Arendse into the bin.

There was still time left for Ryan Baird to score a third Ireland try, but South Africa just about held on, as attention now turns to next weekend’s second Test.

Scorers – South Africa: Arendse, Kolbe try each Penalty try, Pollard 2 pens, 2 cons. Ireland: Osborne, Murray, Baird try each, Crowley 1 pen, 1 con.

South Africa – W le Roux; C Kolbe, J Kriel, D de Allende, K-L Arendse; H Pollard (S Feinberg-Mngomezulu 74), F de Klerk (G Williams 60); O Nche (G Steenekamp 50), B Mbonambi (M Marx (50), F Malherbe (V Koch 50); E Etzebeth (S Moerat 50), F Mostert (RG Snyman 50); S Kolisi (capt) (M van Staden 50), P-S du Toit, K Smith.

Ireland – J Osborne (C Frawley 51); C Nash, R Henshaw (G Ringrose h-t), B Aki, J Lowe; J Crowley, C Casey (C Murray 64); A Porter (C Healy 53), D Sheehan (R Kelleher h-t), T Furlong (F Bealham 63); J McCarthy (J Ryan 50,) T Beirne; P O’Mahony (capt) (R Baird 50), J van der Flier, C Doris.

Ref: L Pearce (England)