Springboks silenced by super Ireland

Ireland’s heroic 17-12 victory at Lansdowne Road extinguished South Africa’s Grand Slam dream in nail-biting fashion and taught Springbok coach Jake White an embarrassing lesson in diplomacy.

Eddie O’Sullivan’s side hardly needed any extra inspiration to register only their second win against the Tri-Nations champions following a hugely disappointing summer tour to South Africa which resulted in two Test defeats.

But White delivered it nonetheless, stating in the build-up to the match that only centre Brian O’Driscoll and locks Paul O’Connell and Malcolm O’Kelly would warrant inclusion in his squad.

If the Springbok boss was attempting to land a telling psychological blow then he would be well advised to leave the mind games alone because Ireland produced one of the finest displays in the country's rugby history.

They exhibited the passion synonymous with all home performances, but also outplayed South Africa for long periods, matching and occasionally outmuscling their opponents up-front and showing plenty of penetration behind the scrum.

It was an outstanding effort against what has been touted as the most formidable Test side around and O’Sullivan had little hesitation in elevating it above the famous 18-9 victory over the world champion Wallabies at Lansdowne Road two years ago.

“I’d rate yesterday’s result above the Australia win. We played Australia in horrendous weather conditions and we were very smart on the day. We used our kicking game superbly and were able to contain them,” he said.

“People said that if it had been a dry day Australia would have beaten us. We’ll never know if that’s true. But it was perfect rugby weather against South Africa and they had a fully-loaded Test side. It was a do-or-die day so to win was very satisfying.”

“Satisfying” was also the word used by O’Driscoll, who toasted the triumphant coaching axis of O’Sullivan and defensive kingpin Mike Ford for giving the players every chance of overcoming the Springboks.

“It was always going to be an extremely physical game against South Africa so we weren’t under any illusions as to what faced us when we went onto the pitch,” said the Leinster star.

“But we’d worked so hard on our defence over the last two weeks and pinpointed where we thought we could beat them. Huge credit must go to Eddie and Mike because that was the best prepared Irish team to start a match.

“It’s very satisfying when everything comes together like that – a lot of people deserve a pat on the back. And of course we had so much motivation after losing both Tests during the summer.”

Several players caught the eye for Ireland – Jonny O’Connor enjoyed a stunning Test debut and topped the tackle count, Shane Horgan sent Springboks flying in all directions every time he set off on a run and O’Driscoll provided inspiration when it was needed.

But the star of the show was Munster fly-half Ronan O’Gara, who claimed all of Ireland’s points with a first-half try, three penalties and a drop-goal, while his kicking out of hand was also superb.

There was a hint of controversy concerning his try, though. Ireland were awarded a series of penalties close to South Africa’s line and on the last of these the tourists were caught napping when O’Gara elected to tap and go instead of kicking for touch.

Springbok skipper John Smit was less than amused after claiming he had been told by referee Paul Honiss to inform his players of the reasoning behind the penalty, giving O’Gara the opportunity to pounce.

“We’d been penalised and the referee called me up and told me to talk to my players. So I started calling my players in and saw the try being awarded. It’s hard to keep your side calm after something like that,” he said.

White – whose side were kept in the game by four penalties from Percy Montgomery – will have been encouraged by the Springboks’ fightback in the last quarter and can take heart from another Schalk Burger masterclass.

But the clean sweep of scalps from Britain and Ireland is now beyond his grasp and with England at Twickenham looming on the horizon next Saturday, the Springboks’ tour has entered a crucial stage.

White said: “The Grand Slam was a milestone we wanted to achieve. It’s gone now but we’ve only been together for 10 Test matches this year. We face England now and that’s another big one.”