RUGBY: JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: South Africa 57 Ireland 15:A DRAINED-looking Ireland side suffered a heavy defeat against South Africa in last night's fifth place semi-final of the Junior World Championship in Italy.
Mike Ruddock’s side were comfortably dispatched by the Baby Boks, who will now go on to meet Fiji in Treviso next Sunday, where Ireland will also face off against Wales in the 7/8th place play-off.
That encounter will represent a fifth match in 23 days for the travelling party, and the signs of fatigue were very much in evidence as the wheels came off at the Stadio de Plebiscito last night.
As always, Ireland were honest in their endeavours but just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to threaten an upset against a finely tuned Boks outfit, who outscored their challengers by nine tries to two.
The first half made for particularly hard viewing, at least from an Irish perspective. South Africa led 14-0 after 10 minutes and 19-0 after 14. There was nothing particularly stunning about their play; rather, they just made less mistakes than their opponents and capitalised on each opportunity that came their way.
Cornell du Preez, Arno Botha and electric winger Wandile Mjekevu all crossed the whitewash during a torrid opening for Ruddock’s men.
James McKinney got Ireland on the scoreboard with a sweetly struck penalty shortly after coming on as a blood sub for Paddy Jackson, but the reprieve was to be short lived.
The Boks registered two more tries before half-time courtesy of Tshotsho Mbovane and another from Mjekevu.
Ireland were out on their feet as the interval approached with bodies strewn across the pitch, unsurprisingly so given that 14 of the starting XV had played some four days earlier against Scotland in the stifling heat.
South Africa rang the changes at the break, but there was little respite for Ireland, and Jaco Taute skirted home for the sixth try of the night just two minutes after the restart.
Goosen converted, Mbovane added another try, Goosen converted once again. Slowly but surely, the game was turning into a rout, and the night belonged to South Africa.
Ireland did rally for a spell, however, and their efforts were rewarded when Galwegians flanker Eoin McKeon darted home in the corner for a deserved try.
They didn’t quite have the energy to build up on their score, though, and South Africa reached the 50 mark when their outstanding centre Francois Venter brushed past Ireland’s exhausted defence for try number eight.
There was still time for Mbovane to make sure of his hat trick whilst Paddy Jackson pulled another score back for an Ireland side who at least battled to the end.
“The best team won by a country mile,” said Ruddock after the final whistle. “We fell off the tackles, we didn’t win the collisions, and we didn’t learn the lessons from the last game.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb early on, and it was a shame really because in previous games against England, Scotland and South Africa we had been very competitive. To drop our standards tonight was most disappointing.”
IRELAND:T O'Halloran; A Conway, B Macken, L Marshall, A Boyle; P Jackson, K Marmion; J Tracy, N Annett (capt), T Furlong; M Kearney, I Henderson; E McKeon, D Doyle, J Murphy. Replacements: A Kelly for Marshall, F Bealham for Tracy, C Carey for Furlong, D Qualter for Kearney, all 45 mins; J McKinney for Macken, 48 mins; S Buckley for Murphy, 50 mins.
SOUTH AFRICA:U Beyers; T Mbovane, J Taute, F Venter, W Mjekevu; J Goosen, P Rademan; S Kotze, M Van Vuuren, N Schonert; J Cook, E Etzebeth; F Kleinhans, C Du Preez, A Botha (capt). Replacements: M Mbonambi for Vuuren, JR Jenkinson for Schonert, 40 mins; P Jordaan for Venter, 45 mins; J Welthagen for Goosen, 55 mins; L Jacobs for Rademan, 63 mins; N Carr for Kleinhans, 70 mins.
Referee:F Pastrana (Argentina).
Tries:T Mbovane 3; W Mjekevu 2; J Taute, F Venter, C du Preez, A Botha try each. Cons: J Goosen 5; J Welthagen.
