Donal Lenihan: Farrell and O'Connell can sleep easier after a direct strike at the Boks' soul

On a day when real grit and a monumental physical commitment was required to see Ireland home, to achieve a win of this magnitude with so much scope for further improvement is so encouraging

ROARING HOME: Ireland players, from left, James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan celebrate their side winning a penalty during the Bank of Ireland Nations Series match between Ireland and South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

They’re called test matches for a reason. While not every international lives up to that monicker, this one certainly did.

It may not have been aesthetically pleasing to the casual observer - games against this South African side rarely are - but in terms of raw power, ferocious collisions and punishing defence it proved absolutely captivating from start to finish.

Both teams enjoyed periods of dominance along stretches when they had to absorb intense pressure and rely on their defensive prowess to survive a brutal encounter that necessitated a massive bench impact just to survive.

By the start of the second half alone, Ireland were forced into making three changes, losing new centurion Conor Murray, Lions tight head prop Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw’s replacement in Stuart McCluskey. It was a shame the in-form Ulster man had to give way as he was having a stormer, despite only lasting 27 minutes.

For some, the gloss was taken off Ireland’s magnificent series win in New Zealand last summer by subsequent All Black defeats to South Africa and Argentina in the Rugby Championship. That may well have been the case but it conveniently serves that line of thinking to ignore the fact that New Zealand not only recovered from those setbacks but went on to win the tournament.

A year out from the World Cup it adds further credibility to Irish ambitions to go all the way that the perennial favourites for the Webb Ellis trophy are no longer so far ahead that everyone else is chasing the runners up slot.

Ireland proved their status as genuine contenders for next year's tournament with those character-building performances in New Zealand on three consecutive weekends last summer. To continue that upward spiral and add another layer to the self belief and confidence to the Andy Farrell era, Ireland had to prove themselves capable of dealing with an entirely different type of challenge to that posed by Ian Foster’s men last July.

South Africa ask different questions to those posed by the best of the rest. Specifically, to have any chance of beating this Springbok mincing machine, first and foremost, you have to find a way to compete on equal terms at the set piece while also dealing with the intense physicality they bring to every contact phase of the game.

It is, and has been, the foundation of Springbok rugby since the Afrikaners descended from the Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the build up to the game, Rassie Erasmus did his best to diffuse the “soft” tag he attributed to Ireland before their World Cup semi final against Wales at the 2019 World Cup that was captured in the brilliant behind-the-scenes documentary “Chasing the Sun”.

You could just visualise Paul O Connell laying down the ground rules for his pack behind closed doors building up to this game. It’s one thing to know what’s coming in advance, another to be able to deal with it in a manner that doesn’t take from the way you want to play.

Conceding a penalty off South Africa’s first lineout maul only a few minutes in wasn’t the best of starts but, to their credit, Ireland did well to stifle any real forward momentum from the visitors' maul, managing to hold their try line intact throughout the opening half despite the numerous attacking opportunities the Springboks generated in Ireland’s 22.

For that to happen, Ireland had to gamble big time off those close-in lineouts with James Ryan pilfering a five-metre throw from under the nose of Eben Etzebeth when the Boks looked certain to score on the brink of half time.

Question marks have hung over the capacity of this Irish pack to survive the type of physical pummelling that comes hand in hand when you meet the likes of England, France and South Africa. Farrell and O Connell could sleep a little easier on Saturday night on the back of Ireland’s excellence up front.

If Ireland’s ability to trade on equal terms in the set-piece contest was both refreshing and reassuring, the manner with which they defused the trademark Boks maul set confidence soaring. Not only that but the sight of their big forwards being smashed in the tackle and left sprawled out on the ground was proof positive that this Irish eight was giving as good as they got.

The biggest challenge for Ireland in the first half was in dealing with the phenomenal blitz defence delivered by the South African midfield, with out half Damian Williamse given a licence to shoot out of the line in the knowledge that the hole left behind was being covered by his back row.

That prevented Ireland from getting into the dual attacking shape, with two distinct lines of attack, that proved so difficult for New Zealand to deal with last summer. On the one occasion South Africa got it wrong, when Williamse shot forward without any cover, the razor-sharp Jamison Gibson-Park, playing his first game since that third test in Wellington four months ago, read the situation brilliantly to create the line break, one of only two Ireland managed all game, that resulted in a superbly finished try for Mack Hansen in the corner.

The key to that crucial score was how comfortable our forwards have become in executing under pressure with ball in hand, even if a pass from Andrew Porter to Finley Bealham looked suspiciously forward. Elsewhere, the handling and passing skills, in heavy traffic, displayed by Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Beirne in the phase leading up to that try was crucial.

The fact that Hansen’s effort was preceded only three minutes earlier by a lineout maul try by Van der Flier, who miraculously managed to keep his body in the field of play when his pack were being violently propelled towards the touch line in a frantic goal line stand by the visiting pack, hit at the very soul of the reigning world champions.

Ireland succeeded where the opposition failed in a key phase they view as their stock in trade. Psychologically that was huge. Even more so for the development of this side was the way Ireland navigated the inevitable backlash, inspired by a more varied attacking threat after the introduction of Willie le Roux off the bench, that delivered two tries in the final quarter.

While taking all the positives, Farrell will privately acknowledge that, in a game as tight as this, had the Springboks had a front-line kicker or anyone resembling a functioning out half, they may well have won. Damian Williamse is a very talented rugby player but isn’t related to an international quality No.10. His game management and kicking out of hand was brutal. Handre Pollard will be back when the sides meet at the World Cup next September and will make a difference.

Result apart, the most pleasing aspect of the performance from Farrell’s perspective was the impact of his bench. With Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki already out of the equation, losing McCluskey so early was far from ideal given that it resulted in Garry Ringrose having to switch to inside centre.

Even bigger was the transition required of the debutant Jimmy O'Brien who has played all his rugby over the last few seasons on the wing or at full back. They say defending the 13 channel is the most difficult in the game but O'Brien answered the call, making a big impression in the most pressing of circumstances.

The other benefit of his arrival is that it restored the left-legged kicking option that was missing due to the absence of James Lowe. Up front the sight of Furlong hobbling down the tunnel at the break was very worrying but Bealham anchored the scrum magnificently, making light of the loss of the outstanding Lion.

Johnny Sexton admitted afterwards that Ireland were far from their best but on a day when real grit and a monumental physical commitment was required to see Ireland home, to achieve a win of this magnitude with so much scope for further improvement is really encouraging.

Farrell is driving a “no excuse” culture in this group. The manner with which his charges negated the impact of the rumbustious Springbok pack, allied with the response to that glut of first-half injuries will please him every bit as much as the victory.