South Africa v Ireland: second men’s rugby union Test – live | Rugby union
Key events
25 min: The scrum is another strong one from the hosts and they clear as far as Osborne in the back field. It’s a bit messy as a high ball is popped into the air, it bounces as though it is in a pinball machine and the Boks win a scrum from a handling error.
24 min: The line-out is clean and the hosts are able to clear. It is the visitors though with the next attack and Nash weaves in and out of defence to make good metres. It comes to Crowley who opts for the cross field kick again, which doesn’t quite come off but they continue with possession. However, eventually Beirne knocks on.
22 min: A huge cheer for Nche as he snipes on a bouncing ball to relieve some attacking pressure. It is then kicked clear and Crowley puts ball to boot and secures an impressive amount of territory.
21 min: De Allende puts in a huge tackle and it looks as though South Africa were going to turn it over at the breakdown but Ireland manage to hold onto it.
PENALTY! South Africa 3-10 Ireland (Pollard, 19)
Pollard gets South Africa’s point tally underway.
18 min: Etzebeth is back on after his break to patch up some blood, Snyman is back off. But as one comes back on, another departs as Mostert limps off the pitch and so Snyman is immediately back on. The scrum sees South Africa winning a penalty and they point to the sticks. In other news, water is wet.
17 min: South Africa’s attack is in full flow but Ireland are standing firm and push them back a fair way. We come back to an earlier knock on. The cameras also show Le Roux on the bench, it seems he won’t be returning to the pitch after going off after hitting his head.
16 min: It has been a frantic start to the game and it is Ireland who have managed to compose themselves in crucial moments, hence the scoreline. South Africa have also had to deal with a shuffle in the team with blood replacements.
CONVERTED TRY! South Africa 0-10 Ireland (Murray, 14)
First try is over.
Ireland keep coming after the goal line drop out, a great offload comes to the scrum-half Murray and he strides over the line. Crowley adds the extras.
14 min: Ireland steal the line-out but immediately they kick it away, Arendse is able to clear but not for long with Ireland collecting and sending it through the hands. McCarthy makes a great break but the scramble defence is excellent from the hosts, the attack stalling Crowley puts boot to ball but Pollard challenges Henshaw well. The ball spills but it is dotted down by Boks hands, they clear with a goal line drop out.
12 min: Furlong is okay to continue but it is something to keep an eye on. We restart and both team exchange kicks, it ends with Crowley sending one out of the full and so we have a South Africa line-out.
11 min: Furlong looks injured here, he is led on the turf getting some attention to his hamstring. All the other players are taking on water.
11 min: Osborne mistimes his run after a high ball and takes Feinberg-Mngomezulu out in the air, South Africa have a penalty and they clear upfield. The Boks go short at the line-out as they edge into the 22. The attack doesn’t get anywhere and so Pollard opts for a kick, Crowley catches and calls the mark to clear.
9 min: Mbonambi’s throw is good and it sparks South Africa’s first attacking set. A grubber kick comes in and Kolbe is almost on the end of it but Ireland recover well and then they win a breakdown penalty. This game has unbelievable energy. Etzebeth is now off for a blood replacement, his shirt is covered in blood from a cut on his forehead and Snyman on.
8 min: Ireland deal with the restart well and Lowe sends it upfield and out for a line-out.
PENALTY! South Africa 0-3 Ireland (Crowley, 6)
Ireland point to the sticks and the kick is on the money.
6 min: The first scrum was reset, the second sees Ireland have a free kick and they tap and go. The long pass comes to Nash and then the team go through the hands but Etzebeth disrupts again, we come back for an earlier penalty advantage for offside.
4 min: Ireland’s line-out was clean and in the resulting attack Etzebeth intercepts but then spills in a tackle, a scrum to come. Le Roux is off for a HIA after he hit his head on a knee, Feinberg-Mngomezulu on in his stead.
3 min: Snyman was on temporarily for Mostert but he is quickly patched up and back on. Willie le Roux may have also gone off for a HIA, I’ll confirm once I know for sure.
3 min: Ireland continue to charge but they have been pushed back significantly through incredible South African defence. A kick comes through and it’s a chase which Pollard won and cleared. Time is off now to get some attention, Mostert is covered in blood.
2 min: The pitch is smoky after the fireworks to introduce the Boks but through the smoke is Ireland on the attack in the early stages.
Kick-off! South Africa 0-0 Ireland
Here we go then. Can Ireland level the series? Or will the Springboks seal the win? All to come.
The players are out in Durban and we just have the anthems to come before kick-off.
Andy Stout has emailed and said:
Am very much hoping the riders on Le Tour get a wiggle on. But there are 26km to go and 10km of those are up a Hors Categorie climb so they may be at it for a while yet.
If the stage doesn’t wrap up in time, I’ll have you covered with the updates. It is an action packed sporting weekend so it’s tricky to watch everything!
It is Andy Farrell’s 50th game in charge of Ireland today. He has told Sky: “Coaching milestones are no where near as valuable as a playing one, I wasn’t aware of it until I was told a few days ago…
“We’re always looking for ways of growing our leadership group, the main challenge for this week is making sure we are a better version of ourselves.”
Rassie Erasmus told Sky pre-match: “I think our motto is next man in, if someone is injured that is how it goes.”
That comes after he said “six or seven” players who would usually start are currently injured. It shows their squad depth with today’s squad having a record number of caps for a Springboks side.
Some of you may be wondering where Hugo Keenan is when looking at the team sheet. Well the full-back has temporarily switched to the sevens game for the 2024 Olympics. It has given an opportunity to Jamie Osborne and Ciaran Frawley this summer.
Garry Ringrose has said in the build-up: “Any opportunity that any of us get to play for Ireland, it’s never taken for granted. It motivates you to work hard, prepare and challenge the process of being as ready as we can to ultimately let go and attack the game at the weekend.”
I’d love to hear from you and where you are watching the match today. Are you relaxing at home? Have one eye on the Wimbledon action and one on the rugby? Let me know via email or X (@rendellx).
There have been other international rugby matches taking place today and to catch up with all of that action have a read of the reports below:
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has said: “I’ve no doubt South Africa are going to be twice as good this weekend so that’s why we need to move pretty quickly this week in terms of the honesty and where we’re at. But I do think if we get the performance that we’re after, we’re more than capable of winning.”
Today’s South Africa team is the most experienced ever named as they have 990 caps between them. Rassie Erasmus was asked about it before the game: “We don’t really look at such things when we select the team, but this shows how blessed we are with the depth in the squad and the quality of the players we have.
“While it may be an impressive statistic, it will by no means guarantee us a victory. We know we must go out there and play good rugby for the full 80 minutes to get the desired result.”
The team news is here. South Africa have made no changes to their starting XV but the team has a new record with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel becoming the most capped centre partnership in the team’s history. The fixture today will be the 30th time they have combined.
South Africa: Willie le Roux; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Handré Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi, Poeter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Ireland, meanwhile, have made four changes to their starting XV. Peter O’Mahony drops to the bench with Andy Farrell bringing in James Ryan into the second row with Tadhg Beirne moving to the back row.
The other changes see Garry Ringrose at centre, Conor Murray at scrum-half and Ronan Kelleher at hooker.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Calvin Nash, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Caolin Blade, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to South Africa v Ireland where the latter will look to get one back over their opponents after losing 27-20.
Ireland will have to try and get the win without two of their stars because of injury. Craig Casey was taken off in the second half of the first Test with a head injury after Dan Sheehan had already been replaced following a knee issue. Nathan Doak and Dave Heffernan have been called up as replacements in the squad.
South Africa, meanwhile, have had to deal with their own injuries but do not face any new problems for today’s match. Heading into the Test series they had big names like Jean Kleyn were ruled out with injury.
We will have an in-depth look at the team news shortly before kick-off at 4pm BST.
