Bok to the future for classy Ireland

RECORDS tumbled as Ireland notched up a record score against a southern hemisphere side at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

For Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan, a frustrated figure in the aftermath of three summer defeats to New Zealand (2) and Australia, it could be described as the beginning of a new era; at the very least it was a great start to a new season.

The begrudgers – they are still out there – will say that South Africa weren’t anything special, but there is no such thing as a bad Springboks team; a win is a win, but when victory comes accompanied by a good performance, then it’s time to sit up and take notice.

Have no doubt about it – this was a pretty complete Irish display; a rugged effort from the pack, a sublime display of skill and determined running from the backs. South Africa struggled to contain an often rampant Irish back division that prospered through the support of the forwards, front, second and back row players.

O’Sullivan’s battle-hardened troops scored four marvellous tries en-route to a comprehensive victory that left the coach struggling to find any fault.

He noted: “I thought we played very well; the guys were exceptionally good in the first half, and played the percentage game brilliantly in the second.

“We did a lot of homework as to what we needed to do, and the forwards carried a lot of ball out there; they took some of the heat off the backs and the backs responded by doing all the right things when the spaces opened up. I couldn’t be any happier,” he said.

Not unusually, O’Sullivan left it late to make tactical changes, but there were no apologies for the timing of his actions. “We needed to keep our momentum going throughout the second half; I was conscious we needed to use the bench, but you have to balance everything in relation to what we needed to do to win the game and what they might have been capable of doing to us in different circumstances.

Ireland , playing with the aid of a strong breeze, dominated the first half, although losing an early initiative to a penalty from Andre Pretorius.

The visitors struck to the front but then fell behind almost immediately when O’Gara’s superb short pass found young Andrew Trimble, who had the proverbial stormer, and gave the winger the space to crack the South African defence. O’Gara converted for a 7-3 lead.

The out half kicked a subsequent penalty but was unable to add the points to a second try for Ireland, from David Wallace, after another brilliant movement.

Ireland continued to dominate and Marcus Horan dived in for the third try that O’Gara converted to establish a comfortable 22-3 lead at the break.

Although playing into the breeze, Ireland continued to dominate apart from a purple patch by South Africa that lasted ten minutes, during which they scored a fine try from debutante winger Francis Steyn.

But they never posed a serious threat to Ireland, who continued to make most of the running. O’Gara knocked over a penalty to push the lead back out to 25-8, and if Bryan Habana and Andre Pretorius combined to secure a further seven points for the visitors, it was fitting that Ireland should finish off with another try.

Brian O’Driscoll didn’t get much room on the day, but he doesn’t need much, and his classic one handed offload ensured Shane Horgan was given the space to scamper in for a fourth try, O’Gara converting from the touchline to highlight Ireland’s dominance.

O’Sullivan finds himself in the happy position of being able to prepare with confidence for next Sunday’s clash with Australia, who struggled to see off Italy in Rome at the weekend.

It represents an opportunity to gain revenge for the 37-15 defeat in Perth in June, although O’Sullivan doesn’t see it as a grudge fixture.

“It’s just another game we want to win; what happened in June is history,” he stressed.

In the build-up to next year’s World Cup, O’Sullivan has only one aim – to harness Ireland’s talented players to a point where victory is not only a possibility, but a probability.

So, will he ring the changes in a bid to strengthen experience in Ireland’s World Cup squad? On past evidence, it’s doubtful. Having lost all three of the summer tour games, Ireland need to start winning again. They’ve started on an upward curve; O’Sullivan, and the team, will want a second shot at glory. He is much more likely to stick with a tried, and now trusted, formula and select from the same squad of 22, most likely to name the same starting line up.

IRELAND: G. Dempsey, S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll, G. D’Arcy, A. Trimble, R. O’Gara, P. Stringer, M. Horan, R. Best, J. Hayes, D. O’Callaghan, P. O’Connell, N. Best, D. Leamy, D. Wallace.

Replacements. S. Easterby for Best (60), G. Murphy for Trimble (66), B. Young for Horan (67), I. Boss for Stringer (73), P. Wallace for O’Gara, M. O’Kelly for O’Connell, F. Sheahan for R. Best (all 78).

SOUTH AFRICA: B. Fortuin, J. Pretorius, B. Habana, J. de Villiers, F. Steyn, A. Pretorius, R. Januarie, L. Sephaka, J. Smit, DJ van der linde, J. Ackermann, A. van den Berg, D. Roussouw, P. Spies, J. Smith.

Replacements. BJ Botha for Sephaka (half time), J. Cronje for Ackermann (48), J. Muller for Roussouw (63), W. Olivier for J. Pretorius (74).

Referee: P. Honiss (New Zealand).