Ireland vs South Africa at rugby union

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The Ireland and South Africa rugby union teams have a rivalry dating back to 1906. Until recently, South Africa have dominated the meetings, with the Irish only having achieved three victories. However, their last two meetings have resulted in Irish victories.

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[edit] 2004 Tour of South Africa by Ireland

Ireland travelled to South Africa in June of 2004, having won their first Triple Crown since 1985, and beaten the champions of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, England in their first home game since the final.[1] As a result, the Irish manager, Eddie O'Sullivan, was confident that Ireland would achieve their first win over South Africa in 39 years, their only previous victory having come in Dublin in 1965.

By contrast, South Africa had just changed their coach to Jake White and he had radically changed the team for his first test since taking charge of the Springboks. The first of the two game test series was played at altitude in Bloemfontein and South Africa eventually won the match 31-17, despite the scores being level at 11-all at half time.[2]

The second match was played in the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, and was a closer affair. However, South Africa maintained their unbeaten record against Ireland on home soil by winning 26-17.[3]

[edit] 2004 Autumn Internationals

The two teams were to meet again in November 2004 when South Africa toured the UK and Ireland, playing each of the home nations. In the lead-up to the match, South African coach Jake White provided additional motivation to the Irish team by publicly repeating his statement from earlier in the year that "only three Irish players would be good enough to get onto the South African team".[4]

The game's only try was scored in controversial circumstances by Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gara. In the 21st minute, New Zealand referee Paul Honiss awarded Ireland a penalty inside the South African 22 and signalled for John Smit to talk to his players regarding their repeated infringements at the break-down. While Smit's back was turned, O'Gara took a quick tap and ran in for five points. O'Gara missed the conversion, but was to make up for it with a drop goal from 35 meters 12 minutes later. Percy Montgomery put the first points on the board for South Africa on 26 minutes, but missed a second effort shortly afterwards. Ireland led 8-3 at the break.

O'Gara continued his success with the boot three minutes after the start of the second half with a penalty to stretch the Irish lead to 11-3. Montgomery quickly responded in kind, but shortly afterwards Schalk Burger was sin-binned for the second week in a row, which allowed Ronan O'Gara to increase the Irish lead to 14-6. A late tackle on Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll allowed O'Gara to increase the margin between the teams to 17-6. Percy Montgomery landed two more penalties, but Ireland hung on to win only their second victory over the Springboks, 17-12.[5][6]

[edit] 2006 Autumn Internationals

On Saturday, November the 11th, 2006, the Springboks came to Lansdowne Road with an experimental side, including three debutants in the back three. The team was selected by head coach Jake White as a way of blooding players for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and South Africa's urgent need to develop new players in the lead up to that tournament. By contrast, Ireland's coach, Eddie O'Sullivan chose Ireland's strongest available team, hoping to take a prized southern hemisphere scalp and boost his team's morale.

The day of the match was a clear, wintry day, but as the late kick off time of 5pm approached, the infamous 'swirling winds of Lansdowne Road' began to blow. South Africa won the toss and chose to play into the wind in the first half, starting the game with a fine display of running rugby. On their first visit to the Irish half, they returned with points as their out half Andre Pretorius kicked a penalty into the wind. The Irish responded with a barging run by Denis Leamy who made the hard yards before passing to Ronan O'Gara, who then passed back inside to Andrew Trimble who found his way over for Ireland's first points.

From there, Ireland scored two more tries and ended the first half 22-3 ahead. South Africa played better in the second half and debutant winger Francois Steyn showed good pace to score in the corner, but out half Andre Pretorius failed to convert the try. Bryan Habana who usually plays at winger, but who played this match in the position of outside center, showed his speed and guile by scoring a remarkable solo try. Any thoughts of a South African revival were stamped out when Girvan Dempsey set up Shane Horgan for a try in the 76th minute. Ronan O'Gara scored the last points of the match with the conversion for a final score of 32-15.[7][8]

For the 2006 November Test against Ireland the Springboks wore an exact replica of the jersey that was worn by the touring side captained by Paul Roos in 1906. It was on this tour that the name 'Springboks' was coined. The kit consisted of a green jersey with a white collar, blue shorts and blue socks. Sponsors Sasol did not appear on the jersey. The strip was a part of South African rugby's centenary celebrations.

[edit] Overall summary

Team Played Wins Losses Draw
Flag of Ireland Ireland 18 3 14 1
Flag of South Africa South Africa 18 14 3 1

The following table contains the results of every match played between South Africa and Ireland.[9]

Date Venue Ireland South Africa Victor
11 November 2006 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 32 15 Flag of Ireland
13 November 2004 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 17 12 Flag of Ireland
19 June 2004 Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 17 26 Flag of South Africa
12 June 2004 Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein, South Africa 17 31 Flag of South Africa
19 November 2000 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 18 28 Flag of South Africa
28 November 1998 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 13 27 Flag of South Africa
20 June 1998 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa 0 33 Flag of South Africa
13 June 1998 Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein, South Africa 13 37 Flag of South Africa
6 June 1981 King's Park, Durban, South Africa 10 12 Flag of South Africa
30 May 1981 Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 15 23 Flag of South Africa
10 January 1970 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 8 8
10 April 1965 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 9 6 Flag of Ireland
13 May 1961 Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 8 24 Flag of South Africa
17 December 1960 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 3 8 Flag of South Africa
8 December 1951 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 5 17 Flag of South Africa
19 December 1931 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 3 8 Flag of South Africa
30 November 1912 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 0 38 Flag of South Africa
24 November 1906 Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast, Ireland 12 15 Flag of South Africa

[edit] References

  1. ^ England 13-19 Ireland. BBC. Retrieved on 15 November 2006.
  2. ^ South Africa 31-17 Ireland. BBC. Retrieved on 15 November 2006.
  3. ^ South Africa 26-17 Ireland. BBC. Retrieved on 15 November 2006.
  4. ^ White makes Irish see red. The Mercury. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
  5. ^ O'Gara inspires historic win. Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
  6. ^ Ireland 17-12 South Africa. BBC. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
  7. ^ Match Report: Ireland 32 South Africa 15. Irish Rugby Football Union. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
  8. ^ Experimental Bok side goes down. South African Rugby Union. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
  9. ^ IRB Archive. International Rugby Board. Retrieved on 13 November 2006.
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