'Into the gutter': South African media unimpressed with Ireland's 'street-fight' approach

'Ireland's edgy approach almost succeeded because, scrum supremacy aside, this was the least impressive performance of the season by the Boks'

Sun, 23 Nov, 2025 - 12:00

Tony Leen

IT was edgy, bordering rough house. And for a number of South African beat reporters and opinion formers, Ireland strayed dangerously close to the edge of legality at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

“The Springboks ended a winless drought by beating Ireland in Dublin in an ill-disciplined match that won’t live long in the memory, the Daily Maverick’s Craig Ray said.

“It was almost as (Ireland) believed their only chance of beating the Boks was by dragging them into the gutter for a street fight. And they almost succeeded because, scrum supremacy aside, this was the least impressive performance of the season by the Boks.”

Ray added: “The Boks deserved to win, scoring four tries to one and destroying Ireland’s scrum mercilessly. But the world champions were far from clinical, and failed to bury Ireland when they had a three-man advantage. If anything, Ireland deserves some credit for the heart and character they showed to stay in the fight, even if much of it was on the edge of legality.

“Rassie Erasmus’s men did some good things, but their poor finishing, sloppy breakdown work and jittery composure when they should have been turning the screw, was unusual.

SEALED: Springbok flyer Cheslin celebrates with his wife Layla after the win in Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

That was probably a function of their desire to end the winless streak in Dublin and, as coaches love to say, “tick another box” in their ruthless march to world domination.”

In the Independent, Leighton Koopman described the test match as a “bruising, high-tempered contest defined by the physicality of the world champions, their composure, and a set-piece masterclass.

“With the victory — a first in 13 years in Dublin and the first in the Rassie Erasmus coaching era — the Boks have now dispelled all doubt that they are the best team in the world, and currently no other side in world rugby comes close to them.”

He added: “While the cards undoubtedly shaped the flow of the match, the real difference lay in South Africa’s dominance up front.”

Wrote Koopman: “The Bok scrum was a force of nature, bulldozing the Irish pack backwards and forcing penalty after penalty. Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit initiated the softening process before the introduction of Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp piled on the pressure.”

Reported the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times: “The Springboks buried the ghosts of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last night in what can only be described as the craziest match of the season. Somehow, Ireland won the second half, despite playing two men down for 10 minutes in a Test that saw six yellow cards, five to Ireland, including one that was upgraded to a red, and one to the Boks.

Ireland were brave and heroic, but the Boks were brutal and powerful in winning for the first time in Dublin since Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018.

Rugby 365’s Warren Fortune said that while Pieter-Steph du Toit was immense and showed why he was nominated for the Player of the Year award, praise too should also go to the Bok props for their scrum dominance. However, we gave it to Jasper Wiese, who was incredible in all facets of the game. He was a demon at the breakdowns and carried the ball with great power.”

Independent columnist Mike Greenaway has his eyes moved forward to the 2027 World Cup and the possibility of Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber joining a re-coaching dream team for the Boks.

“Almost two years to the day before the 2027 World Cup final in Australia,

DISCIPLINED: Ireland's Andrew Porter was one of four Irish yellows.

Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber met for lunch in Dublin. They have been friends since their conscription days in the South African army and rugby collaborators for almost as long, apart from the last two years, when Nienaber broke away to coach at Leinster.

After their catch-up last week, both made coy comments in the media about a possible restoration of the partnership that spearheaded the Boks’ back-to-back World Cup victories in 2019 and 2023.

“Nienaber’s penchant for pinpoint analysis would be a razor-sharp arrow for Erasmus to add to his burgeoning coaching quiver. You would think the emotional pull of the Springboks, and the chance at a historic three-peat, would win the day. The return of Nienaber would be the cherry on top for Erasmus’s coaching Dream Team and would further strengthen the odds of the Boks securing the Webb Ellis Cup for another four years.”