Coach Rassie Erasmus says the beer tasted better after the Springboks beat Ireland in Dublin for the first time since 2012.
Erasmus was relieved and satisfied after the Boks finally snapped a 13-year drought at the Aviva Stadium with a bruising 24-13 win on Saturday – their fourth straight victory on the end-of-year tour.
But the Bok boss, captain Siya Kolisi and World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx all played down the significance of the result, praising Ireland’s fightback and stressing that South Africa were far from perfect.
“It was a great win against a team like Ireland, who have dominated against us since we’ve been together as a group,” Erasmus said. “If you look back at the last five games, they’re still 3-2 up against us, so we won’t get carried away with the result – but the beer tastes a little better.
“We’re thankful to finally beat them here. It’s been a long season, and a lot of the players go straight back to Japan or the URC next week. We’re proud we could grind out a win in Dublin for the first time in 13 years.”
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The match was chaotic at times, with a red card, five yellow cards and momentum swings for both teams. For Erasmus, none of it was new.
“We’ve had games with red cards and concussions when there wasn’t even a ping,” he said. “In general it was very physical. There was a 20-minute red card [to Ireland lock James Ryan] – I thought it was the correct call – and we couldn’t always capitalise inside the 22. It was hectic to manage who went off and who came back on, but that’s Test rugby.”
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Kolisi said the Boks handled the disruption because of clear communication from the coaching staff and officials.
“At half-time we had to make plans, but we always knew what was happening,” the captain said. “We took the penalties when we needed to, we understood they were short on numbers, and the scrum was working for us so we went after that.”
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Marx, who received his World Rugby award from Victor Matfield after the match, admitted the set-piece battle was brutal.
“It was a tough game and having that many scrums wasn’t pleasing on the neck,” the hooker said. “They’re a quality side with a quality pack. They held us out in the second half – they showed their quality.”
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Erasmus praised Ireland’s effort and said the Boks had to earn every point.
“Ireland were just as physical to keep us out with the tackles and turnovers inside the 22,” he said. “If they scored in the last four minutes, it would’ve been a restart and the game would’ve been on. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but there was a monkey on our backs we needed to get off.
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“It wasn’t about revenge. It was about fixing things. We were dominant in the scrums – not in every department – but when they went down to seven men we chose that option.”
The Boks now head to Cardiff for their final Test of the tour against Wales.
Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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