Ireland 13-24 South Africa: Farrell proud of Irish grit after chaotic Dublin setback

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said he was unbelievably proud of the fight his players showed in Dublin after a hectic 24-13 defeat to South Africa.

In a match that produced a flurry of cards, James Ryan's yellow was upgraded to a 20-minute red, and Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley, Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy were sin-binned as Ireland slipped to a 24-13 loss to the world champions.

Farrell praised his side's character despite the chaos, pushing back at a reporter who suggested the opening 40 minutes were borderline shambolic. “Chaos? I won’t repeat your word,” he said. “I haven’t seen a game like this before, and I doubt you have either.”

“First and foremost, you look at yourself and learn the lessons,” he added. “But my overriding thought is that I’m unbelievably proud.”

He highlighted the second-half response after going down to 12 men, noting the way the players showed real bottle for the country in the opening minutes of the second half. “It was absolutely amazing,” Farrell said.

We lost our composure in moments

While buoyed by the late- game fight, Farrell lamented “stupid errors” and a loss of composure under pressure from a dominant South African scrum. He pointed to several turning points, including a try that was pulled back after a yellow card had led to a red, and a string of ruck and offside penalties that allowed South Africa to gain control.

“We made a few errors at the ruck and gave away three offside penalties. Those are manageable and we didn’t handle them,” he said. “They try to inject chaos at the scrum and elsewhere, but we simply lost our composure at times.”

Ireland had been strong at the aerial contest in their previous match against Australia, but Farrell said the kicking game did not click this time, with kicks going longer and high-ball skills not clicking as well as last week.

Asked about comments from South Africa’s assistants suggesting referees might be biased, Farrell said the officials had told him this would not be a factor and left the judge’s decision to the game itself.

Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s head coach, celebrated his first win in Dublin as Springboks boss while acknowledging the match was intensely physical and chaotic at times. He noted the 20-minute red card and said South Africa were dominant for long spells but could not finish the job, with the flow of the game made harder by substitutions and head injury checks.

“The game was very physical and there was a 20-minute red card that I thought was the right call. We were dominant for most parts of the game, but just couldn’t kill it,” Erasmus said. “It was hectic and difficult to manage. It’s Test rugby at the highest level and you have to handle those moments.”

Having claimed victory in Dublin for the first time under his tenure, Erasmus reflected on the challenges of a tight, error-prone match as the Springboks navigated disruptions to player availability and checks for head injuries.

Key takeaway: Ireland showed resilience and belief after going to 12 men, but discipline and precision under pressure will be crucial against elite sides. BBC Sport

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