Another one that got away undoubtedly, which will add to Ireland's frustration. Yet that Ireland were even going toe-to-toe and at level pegging throughout much of the final quarter after concocting one of the best tries ever scored at the old ground was a tribute in itself. At least Ireland had given it a lash, and in far more inventive and creative manner than of yore.
It's hard to quibble with such a gutsy and game Irish effort, for there's little more they can do in either radically applying surgery to the tactics or the personnel. They're on the right track.
Keith Wood may not have had his most dynamic game in a green shirt, a la the last meeting two years ago, but he put in some big hits especially when the going was tough in the opening quarter and continually set up good ball in contact. Furthermore, the Irish line-out was excellent, with the brilliant Malcolm O'Kelly again supreme.
Eric Miller utterly justified his recall with a fine all-round game, putting in the big hits, too, and Kieron Dawson was his canny, rabbit-like self. Alas, though, the back five in the pack, as suspected beforehand, didn't have the power to compete with their Springbok counterparts, with Anthony Foley having a subdued game.
Peter Stringer, too, though some of his excavating and distribution was very skilful, also cracked a bit under the pressure and Ronan O'Gara, while brave and generally good, was a bit mixed in his decision-making and execution, an example being a skewed up-and-under out on the full in the third quarter.
Rob Henderson, after an early knock-on in the tackle, recovered really well and had a good game, though some of the poor passing checked his momentum. As with Girvan Dempsey's ultra solid and pretty effective display at full-back, both selections were vindicated. Brian O'Driscoll will actually review the video with justifiable criticisms on some occasions in terms of his handling and option taking, but against that so much brilliance comes from the little genius. Obliged to play a high-risk game, he has sort of become the totem as well as talisman of this team.
Unable to establish even a basic foothold in the opening quarter, the suspicion lurked that Ireland may have been a bit too wound up with the notion of winning as opposed to focusing on their own performance. Even then they had a chance to trouble the scoreboard after Henderson's intercept and breakaway - Percy Montgomery catching him from behind - but opted for a close-in line-out maul which was driven back.
Instead it was Montgomery who had the scoreboard ticking over with a couple of penalties. After Wood had denied the dangerous Fleck, the Springbok scrum got one shove on, and though denied a second, still achieved a favourable angle for Andre Vos to run hard at the Irish midfield. Even from the delayed recycle there was no stopping Joost van der Westhuizen from a yard out to extend his South African record to 31 tries with his third in four games against Ireland.
Peter Clohessy, with what looked like a retaliatory punch in an off-the-ball, on-the-deck altercation, was sin-binned along with Robbie Kempson and Ireland were up and running with an ensuing penalty from O'Gara - even if it looked a yard wide.
With one bound, though, Ireland were free. Wood was the catalyst when taking turned-over ball up the middle, Dawson transferring deftly (so quick you might have missed it) and O'Gara skip passing to O'Driscoll who took his customary excellent line and superbly passed out to Henderson. Turning Thinus Delport around, Henderson made ground up the touchline and kicked ahead for the speedster Hickie to hack on, gather and score.
Then came the Montgomery penalty which first hit the post and then linesman Ed Morrison before Wood was again the target for a tap penalty move inside halfway. With O'Gara using deep-lying runners to check the drift and launch O'Driscoll once more, the Boks were then reduced to 13 men by the binning of Delport after taking out Howe late.
There was an argument for Ireland taking their three points, though they weren't helped by South African being allowed to have Venter supplement their back-line rather than pack down for the scrum. Even then O'Driscoll possibly ignored a try-scoring overlap from another excellent set-piece move, before O'Gara just missed a drop goal.
In any case, O'Gara levelled matters soon after the resumption and the third quarter was more about what Ireland did with the ball than the Springboks. Three times they used set-piece ball to release O'Driscoll. Twice he spilled the pill, the Boks striking stealthily through Braam Van Straaten's kick ahead and gather, Montgomery, Fleck and Pieter Rossouw (cleverly taking out three men) moving it on for Corne Krige to score in the corner.
Undeterred, Ireland kept trying, and were rewarded with the brilliant execution of a set move practised endlessly on the training ground. Credit to David Humphreys, just introduced, for a superb miss pass to O'Driscoll, as the Boks moved in for the kill once more, only for the gifted one to make his trademark `blind' flipped pass to the looping Hickie. He sped through the gap on halfway, drawing Delport to release Howe for a wonderful score. Game very much on.
If there was a turning point it came when Henderson's diagonal kick rolled short of the Springbok line behind Rossouw in the 76th minute. Rossouw gathered turned and used a decoy runner to break through a gap between O'Kelly and Henderson, the Springboks rumbling downfield for van Straaten to eventually kick them ahead when dubiously being given a second penalty at the behest of Ed Morrison after Albert van den Berg had tapped the first.
Either way, it looked as if Ireland were running on empty a little, a point reinforced when some close-in pummelling enabled van der Westhuizen to put Venter over under the Irish posts. The massive tackle count and possession imbalance had taken its toll.
Scoring sequence: 19 mins: Montgomery pen, 0-3; 22 nmins: Montgomery pen, 0-6; 27 mins: van der Westhuizen try, Montgomery con, 0-13; 30 mins: O'Gara pen, 3-13; 34 mins: Hickie try, O'Gara con, 10-13; (half-time 10-13); 45 mins: O'Gara pen, 13-13; 51 mins: Krige try, 13-18; 65 mins: Howe try, 18-18; 79 mins: van Straaten pen, 18-21; 83 mins: Venter try, van Straaten con, 18-28.
IRELAND: G Dempsey (Terenure College); D Hickie (St Mary's College), B O'Driscoll (Blackrock College), R Henderson (Wasps), T Howe (Dungannon); R O'Gara (Cork Constitution), P Stringer (Shannon); P Clohessy (Young Munster), K Wood (Harlequins, capt), J Hayes (Shannon), G Longwell (Ballymena), M O'Kelly (St Mary's), E Miller (Terenure), A Foley (Shannon), K Dawson (London Irish). Replacements: D Humphreys (Dungannon) for O'Gara (63 mins), A Ward (Ballynahinch) for Miller (71 mins), J Fitzpatrick (Dungannon) for Miller (temp, 38-40) and for Hayes (78 mins), S Horgan (Lansdowne) for Dempsey (83 mins). Sin-binned - P Clohessy (30-40 mins).
SOUTH AFRICA(Golden Lions), G Esterhuizen (Golden Lions), R Fleck (Western Province), P Rossouw (Western Province); P Montgomery (Western Province), J van der Westhuizen (Blue Bulls); R Kempson (Western Province), J Smit (Natal), W Meyer (Golden Lions), A van den Berg (Natal), M Andrews (Natal), C Krige (Western Province), A Vos (Golden Lions, capt), A Venter (Free State Cheetahs). Replacements: O le Roux (Natal) for Vos (38-40 mins), B van Straaten (Western Province) for Fleck (half-time), Fleck for Esterhuizen (64 mins). Sin-binned - R Kempson (30-40 mins), T Delport (40-50 mins).
Referee: S Lander (England).
