Having picked the more attack-minded Patrick Lambie ahead of robotic kicker Morne Steyn at flyhalf, South Africa curiously chose to throw up the high balls to expose a supposed weakness. The tactic backfired immediately and after ten minutes Ireland had done nothing of note and yet found themselves up 6-0 thanks to two soft penalties conceded and Jonathan Sexton’s accurate boot.

Human skyscraper Eben Etzebeth managed to steal a lineout and J.P. Pietersen crashed through Sexton to set up Lambie’s first goal, but the momentum was short lived and another weak penalty, this time to captain Jean de Villiers, handed Sexton his third successful shot of the first quarter.

The flags stayed down following a long range effort from Lambie and Keith Earls made a break down the right, but he was scragged by an excellent Francois Louw cover tackle and pinged for holding on. The Springboks did nothing with the ball, and it wasn’t long before Sexton slotted over another easy kick.

Tempers flared following a cynical knee from Willem Alberts on a prone Sexton that went unpunished, and even more so when Pietersen clattered into Chris Henry without the ball at the restart. Referee Wayne Barnes sent the South African winger to the bin and cool heads were restored. Neither Sexton nor Ruan Pienaar could convert penalty attempts in the remaining minutes of the half, but Ireland would be very pleased with the scoreline and all of the momentum.

Heyneke Meyer must have tore into this charges at the half, because the Springboks came out firing within a couple minutes Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip was binned for collapsing a maul and Pienaar wasted no time in diving over under the posts from a ruck for a seven pointer. Before Heaslip could return Lambie kicked a penalty and the lead had completely evaporated.

The maul was now South Africa’s weapon of choice as they looked to grind down the staunch Irish resistance. As the minutes ticked on the toll on the Irish began to show Meyer began to roll in the tactical subs. Heinke van der Merwe, only onto the bench after Tendai Mtawarira was a late withdrawal from the side, came into the fray to win his first cap since 2007 and oddly enough was up against his Leinster club mate Mike Ross in the scrum. The younger Lion got the better on this occasion, winning two penalties, the latter of which allowed Lambie to extend the lead to 4 points.

Man of the match Mike McCarthy was at the heart of everything for Ireland but even he ran out of gas at the 70 minute mark. Iain Henderson and Michael Bent came on to win their first caps, and Bent immediately looked sharp. Sadly it was to no avail as the Bokke defense tightened up and quickly closed any doors the Irish thought were open.

It was a courageous effort from a patchwork Ireland side written off by all and sundry. Neither side looked to play much rugby but Declan Kidney’s men were the more committed side and they will feel desperately unlucky not to get a result. The Springboks were met at every corner with willing tacklers and were it not for a fortunate second half try could have suffered an embarrassing defeat.

SCORING
06 mins – Jonathan Sexton pen 3-0
10 mins – Jonathan Sexton pen 6-0
17 mins – Patrick Lambie pen 6-3
20 mins – Jonathan Sexton pen 9-3
30 mins – Jonathan Sexton pen 12-3
44 mins – Ruan Pienaar try 12-8
45 mins – Patrick Lambie con 12-10
52 mins – Patrick Lambie pen 12-13
69 mins – Patrick Lambie pen 12-16

CARDS
31 mins – J.P. Pietersen yellow (dangerous tackle)
42 mins – Jamie Heaslip yellow (professional foul)

IRELAND
Simon Zebo; Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Gordon D’Arcy (Ronan O’Gara 75), Andrew Trimble (Fergus McFadden 58); Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray (Eoin Reddan 61); Cian Healy (David Kilcoyne 41-44), Richardt Strauss (Sean Cronin 3-11, 75), Mike Ross (Michael Bent 70); Donnacha Ryan (Donncha O’Callaghan 63-67), Mike McCarthy (Donncha O’Callaghan 70); Peter O’Mahony (Iain Henderson 70), Chris Henry, Jamie Heaslip (capt.).

SOUTH AFRICA
Zane Kirchner; J.P. Pietersen, Jaco Taute, Jean de Villiers (capt.), Francois Hougaard; Patrick Lambie, Ruan Pienaar; C.J. van der Linde (Heinke van der Merwe 63), Adriaan Strauss, Jannie du Plessis (Patric Cilliers 56); Eben Etzebeth (Flip van der Merwe 70), Juandre Kruger; Willem Alberts (Marcell Coetzee 64), Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen.