Springboks come up clutch to end Irish hoodoo at Loftus

It was far from a champagne performance, but South Africa will no doubt gladly take it after so many near misses against the Irish in recent years.

The Springboks started the match with real pace, power and intensity, showing a real willingness to keep the ball in hand and run at the Irish.

After taking it coast to coast via some slick handling, it was a simple support play from the backline that allowed them to create the space on the outside for Kurt-Lee Arendse, who used his jet boots to race down the touchline before cutting inside and leaving the last defender for dead to score a scintillating try. Handre Pollard added the extras as the Boks raced to a 7-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Boks could not take the restart cleanly, putting Ireland straight on the attack inside the 22. The defence stood firm but Ireland won the penalty advantage and opted for a quick tap right on the line. Again South Africa's defence proved up to the challenge, and when Ireland knocked the ball on to hand over possession, the reaction from the Loftus crowd said it all.

The Boks were having a few disciplinary problems of their own, however, and when they gave away a kickable penalty at ruck time, Jack Crowley slotted over a pretty straightforward kick to get the Irish on the board.

Moments later, it was Ireland's turn to infringe at the breakdown, giving Pollard an easy kick to put the Boks back in front by seven.

The Boks continued to look dangerous with one particularly expansive move creating some space for Pieter-Steph du Toit to storm down the touchline and offload to Cheslin Kolbe, but the ensuing breakdown was messy and Ireland escaped.

The hosts continued to apply the pressure with wave after wave of attack, with the Irish defence just about holding out. Eventually, another penalty opportunity arrived, with Pollard again opting to take the points from in front.

The Boks continued to infringe whenever Ireland managed to get into their territory, however, and when one of those penalties allowed Ireland to kick deep into Springbok territory, the Irish attack stayed patient for more than 10 phases before a moment of magic from James Lowe allowed Jamie Osborne to go over for the try on debut.

Pollard had an opportunity to secure three more points for the Boks just before half-time but missed a rare shot at goal as it finished 13-8 to the Boks at the break.

South Africa had a great opportunity to score early in the second half after several phases of fierce attack right on the Irish line, but somehow the visitors' defence stood firm, eventually forcing an error from Faf de Klerk.

Pollard was handed another fairly easy penalty kick shortly after, but â˜mister consistentâ™ missed the target again.

With 50 minutes gone, Erasmus brought on almost the entire 'Bomb Squad' of forwards - RG Snyman, Malcolm Marx, Marcus van Staden, Vincent Koch and Gerhard Steenekamp - to thunderous applause.

The Boks were enjoying plenty of promising build-up, but the final touch continued to elude them as chance after chance went begging. When another ball went awry at the breakdown, the ball fell kindly to Lowe, who was able to elude several tackles down the blindside before darting down the corner for an Ireland try. Thankfully, the TMO spotted an Irish infringement in the build-up and the try was chalked off - a massive let-off for the South Africans.

That gave Pollard a shot at goal instead but he missed another very easy kick, the normally reliable flyhalf's accuracy letting him down badly.

After a long break due to a neck injury to Ireland's Craig Casey, the action finally resumed as the Boks looked to make their superiority count in the final minutes.

Then came a moment of magic from Cheslin Kolbe. It all started with a mishit kick for touch from Pollard that gave Lowe a chance of keeping it in play, but Lowe couldn't control the ball and it fell kindly to the Bok speedster who kicked the ball ahead before regathering it to score.

A long TMO check couldn't overturn the call, and Pollard - back on song from the kicking tee - added the extras to finally give the Boks some daylight on the scoreboard.

As the match headed into the final 10 minutes, Ireland finally enjoyed a spell of possession in the Springboks' 22, and after repeated infringements from the home side, Arendse was the man to pay the price by being sent to the sin-bin.

Ireland looked to turn the screws and with five minutes to play a TMO check found they were held up over the line. But the visitors kept coming and with their very next attack from the restart, a brilliant inside pass cut the Springboks' defence to shreds as Crowley cantered in under the sticks for an easy seven-pointer to move Ireland back to within five .

A mistake from Lowe off the restart handed the Boks a five-metre scrum, and it would prove to be the killing blow as a massive shove from the South African pack drove the Irish scrum back behind their own line, with the referee having no option but to award a penalty try and send an Irish man to the sin bin as they tried to stop a certain Bok try.

Incredibly, Ireland weren't done yet, as they caught the Boks napping with a quickfire attack that led to another five-pointer - this time for Ryan Baird, with some good work from Lowe in the build-up somewhat atoning for his earlier error.

Crowley tried to rush the conversion and failed to find the target, and that was how it finished with time just about expired, as the Boks emerged 27-20 winners in an extraordinary match in Pretoria.

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