Inspired Irish savage sorry Springboks in Dublin

Ireland rewrote the history books in slaughtering the Springboks 38-3 in Dublin. It is the biggest ever Irish win against the Springboks.

The hosts lead 14-0 at halftime.

Ireland scored four tries to nil and dominated every facet of play.

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee’s record in the last 18 months is nine wins from 22 starts and in 2017 it is five wins from 10. The Springboks are now winless in their last five Tests and this defeat in Dublin mirrors the 57-0 humiliation against the All Blacks in Albany during the Rugby Championship.

Coetzee has insisted that he is picking the best players, regardless of where they are based, but this was another performance to shame the Springbok jersey. It was painful to witness.

Ireland’s set piece was strong and in the final quarter crushing in its dominance, the loose-trio, led by Sean O’Brien, outclassed the Boks and the halfbacks Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton were magnificent.

Ireland’s Kiwi-born and raised new cap Bundee Aki was a monster on defence and his tackle on Coenie Oosthuizen in the second minute ended the Bok tightead’s match. Aki’s tackle set the tone for the match and the subsequent 78 minutes was equally brutal to Aki’s first tackle in Test rugby.

Scorers

Ireland

Tries – Andrew Conway (24th min), Rhys Ruddock (72nd), Rob Herring (76th min), Jacob Stockdale (81st min)

Conversions – (25th, 73rd min), Joey Carbery (77th min, 82nd min)

Penalties – Jonny Sexton (4th min, 14th min, 19th min, 55th min)

D/goals –

South Africa 

Tries –

Conversions –

Penalties – Elton Jantjies (43rd min)

D/goals –

TEAMS

Ireland

15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Cian Healy

Substitutes: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 James Ryan, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Darren Sweetnam

South Africa

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6, Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi , 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Francois Venter

Referee: Ben O’Keefe (NZL)

South Africa’s overall record against Ireland: P: 25; W: 18; L: 6; D: 1; PF: 503; PA: 342; TF: 69; TA: 31; Average score: 20-14. Win%: 72%.

South Africa’s record in Ireland is: P 15; W 9; L 5; D 1; PF: 246; PA: 197; TF: 38; TA: 18; Average score: 16-13. Win%: 60%.

12 stats and facts ahead of Saturday’s Ireland v Springboks Test in Dublin courtesy of Sport24

· The total number of caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 439. There are 101 caps in the backline with 338 caps among the forwards, and on the bench there are a further 88 caps.

· The average caps per player in the backline is 14, the forwards 42 while the players on the bench average 11. The average age of the starting XV is 26.

· Tendai Mtawarira will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok prop to 96. He is the third most experienced Springbok forward, behind Victor Matfield (127) and John Smit (111).

· Mtawarira will equal the record for most Test caps (seven) against Ireland. The current record holder is CJ van der Linde.

· Pieter-Steph du Toit and Coenie Oosthuizen will play in their 30th Test match.

· Elton Jantjies needs two points to reach 200 points in Tests for South Africa.

· Should Jantjies succeed with four conversions, he will equal Percy Montgomery’s career record of 10 conversions (in six Tests) against Ireland. This will be Jantjies’ fourth Test against Ireland.

· The Aviva Stadium in Dublin was built on the same ground that was previously occupied by Lansdowne Road, the oldest rugby stadium in the world. The first Test played at Lansdowne Road took place on March 11, 1878. Ireland played a total of 244 Test matches at Lansdowne Road.

· The first Test match played at the new Aviva Stadium was between Ireland and South Africa on November 6, 2010, which South Africa won 23-21.