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The players are back and they boos greet them! This crowd is frothing! Ireland with so much to do. They start this half with 12 men and no fly-half. If they win from here I’ll change my surname to O’Gallanan.
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PENALTY TRY! Ireland 7-19 South Africa
The crowd boos as a bonkers half comes to an end!
Ireland end it with 12 players on the pitch after receiving three yellow cards and one red.
It is a testament to their resolve that the Boks haven’t disappeared over the horizon. But how on earth do they come back from this.
I need a breather, and perhaps a stiff Irish dram.
Back in a bit.
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Another yellow card for Ireland (Porter, 40+2)
A third yellow card in the half! Ireland are down to 12 as Porter is nailed in the scrum as he faces a fresh prop duo. South Africa have to score from here!
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40+ min: The Boks maul and Ireland hold it up, but they then stop it illegally.
Erasmus has hooked his two starting props and replaced them with Steenekamp and Louw (who weighs 144 kg). This will be a big scrum at the end of this half. Can Ireland hold them out?
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Yellow-card! Ireland (Crowley, 40)
Ireland lose another! Crowley cynically had a hand in the ruck which forced the knock-on. He’s shown a deserving yellow. South Africa go to the corner and maul.
Jack Crowley joins Sam Prendergast on the naughty step. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/INPHO/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 19.53 CET
39 min: A chance for Ireland to breathe and for SA to strike once more. Marx has the ball at a line-out inside Irish territory. But Reinach knocks on in contact so we’ll close the half with an Irish scrum feed.
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TRY! Ireland 7-12 South Africa (Sheehan, 37)
Dan the man! Two players down, so what? The Irish win the line-out and come flooding forward. A couple of brutal carries from van der Flier and then Aki around the fringe have the Boks back peddling before Sheehan joins on a blind run and crashes over. Crowley slots the extras. Just five points the difference.
Dan Sheehan! Yes! Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/ReutersShare
Updated at 19.40 CET
36 min: Penalty for Ireland after Aki clatters Pieter-Steph du Toit following a Boks break down the line from left to right. That is such an important intervention from the big man. It knocked the ball loose and then the Boks grabbed it illegally. The penalty is kicked into South Africa’s 22 where Ireland will have the throw. Ryan catches it one-handed and now they;re five out!
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TRY! Ireland 0-12 South Africa (Reinach, 34) and a yellow card for Prendergast!
Finally they’re over! After a penalty at the scrum, and two more penalties for Irish players straying off-side, the Boks are finally over as Reinach snipes through a fractured wall of white to score a try that was coming.
Prendergast is shown a yellow card, likely a result of repeated infringements in the red zone.
SFM adds the extras and Ireland, 12 points down with 13 men on the field, have a mountain to climb.
Cobus Reinach makes the breakthrough after intense Boks pressure. Photograph: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 19.36 CET
33 min: Ireland do well to hold the Boks scrum. Furlong thinks he did enough to win a penalty. Instead it’ll be a reset.
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Updated at 19.29 CET
32 min: O’Brien, with a wad of bloody tissue up his nose, makes his way off the pitch and is replaced by Crowley. No idea what they’re doing with the backline now. First, the Boks feed to the scrum…
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32 min: No cards. Just a penalty. Both O’Brien and Moodie cam charging into each other but O’Brien was high. Boks take another scrum. Slightly more infield but still five out.
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32 min: South African win another penalty at the scrum. But the morass collapses so Reinach has to fling it out. The ball drifts into the space between de Allende and Moodie and both go for it which invariably means it’s spilled. But is there another dangerous play from an Irishman? Or a South African? I think this is Moodie’s shoulder on O’Brien’s head. Or is it the other way round? This is very messy.
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Aki joins the scrum at blindside. That means there’s a gap in the backline.
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30 min: The line-out is cleanly won and they do maul. It inches forward and Ireland do well to hold it up but then Porter brings it down illegally. Rather than line-out again the Boks choose to scrum from five out. They’ll be taking aim at a penalty try if they get this right in the left corner.
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29 min: South Africa win a penalty just before de Allende almost found a gap in the line from inside Ireland’s 22. This gives SFM a chance to nudge to the corner. Well, not quite to the corner. About 10 metres out. Can they maul from here?
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Ryan’s yellow upgraded to red!
28 min: Now then! It was reckless. It was dangerous. And now Ryan is a spectator like the rest of us. Ireland need to navigate 12 more minutes with a man down.
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27 min: Doris does brilliantly at the base of a messy scrum as he holds off the challenge of two South Africans. Willemse kicks and catches before SFM rakes on to the corner that goes too long and Hansen mops up under pressure.
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NO TRY! Ireland 0-5 South Africa
26 min: A second try chalked off! This time it’s against South Africa! Venter the prop burrowed over from close range but it came after Wiese’s forward pass from an off-load for the onrushing Nortje. South Africa looked so menacing but that pass did float forward. Right decision. Ireland continue to cling on as they brace themselves for a scrum inside their own 22. They need to get this in and out as fast as they can.
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Updated at 19.18 CET
25 min: SA try something different off this line-out. They get it to SFM who hoists a very high kick. Moodie chases but he’s beaten by a leaping Hansen. But O’Brien immediately kicks it straight out so SA get another line-out just beyond Ireland’s 22 on the left.
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23 min: SA have another line-out, on Ireland’s 22. Reinach dallies and Beirne sacks him, winning possession back. That’s a big play from the veteran lock. The clearing kick from Prendergast finds touch around halfway. SA need to make this man advantage count. Ireland doing well to keep them at arm’s length.
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22 min: SA don’t maul. Instead they go off the top to set up Kolisi with a crash ball in midfield. A couple of skip passes find Moodie who tries to chip over the top. It’s deflected out. Another line-out for the Boks.
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21 min: SFM takes a mark but doesn’t kick it out. Prendergast kicks himself and does find touch. But he’s outside his 22 so SA will get the throw and a huge territorial win. With an extra man in the tight five now is the time to maul.
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Yellow-card and no try! Ireland (Ryan, 20) Ireland 0-5 South Africa
Oh hang on! They’re going to chalk this off! Ryan came flying off his feet in a build-up ruck and made head to head contact with Marx. He’s rightly shown a yellow card and the try is struck from the record.
James Ryan is off his feet as he dive in with an illegal challenge. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 19.27 CET
TRY! Ireland 5-5 South Africa (Beirne, 20)
Beirne is over! Prendergast missed the simple penalty but hit the left upright flush. Lowe was quickest to the rebound and Ireland came storming forward. Van der Flier made ground before Beirne, from two metres out, powered over!
Tadhg Beirne powers over the line. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/ReutersShare
Updated at 19.22 CET
17 min: Ireland go to the front of the line-out but Etzebeth is there, making a mess of the ball. It spills loose and Thomas du Toit gathers it but is bundled out of touch. So Ireland get another throw. Once again the Boks infringe, entering a midfield maul from the side. Pieter-Steph du Toit the guilty party I think. This is kickable and Prendergast takes the option to shoot at goal from the 22, just to the left of the sticks.
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16 min: Ringrose spots a bit of open space and kicks into it. it’s almost perfect but no matter, the Boks were offside at that ruck so Ireland get the chance to set a line-out on the world champions’ 22.
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16 min: Both teams are going berserk at the breakdown, making life so tough for the two nines. Counter rucks and counter, counter rucks aplenty. A bit of kick tennis ends with SA on the ball in their own half. Reinach slows it down a touch before hoisting a high kick that lands on halfway. Hansen does well to secure possession.
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14 min: SA kick off the line-out and their rush defence pins Ireland back in their own half. Ireland then kick themselves, hanging it high. Willemse gets up and spills backwards. Kriel gathers off the deck but knocks forward. Scrum to Ireland just inside from halfway to their right. Phew. It might read and stop-start but this is breathless.
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11 min: Soft penalty for South Africa as Lowe just gets his timing wrong, making contact with Willemse as the SA fullback was still in the air fielding a high kick. SFM skews his kick so doesn’t make a lot of territory, but he finds touch at least. Line-out to the Boks inside their own half.
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10 min: The Boks scrum wins a penalty but they don’t hang about as the backs come flooding forward. They go from right all the way to Moodie on the left who stands up a tackler and gets over halfway. The ball moves towards centre field where SFM tries a grubber that doesn’t come off so Ireland are back on the ball until they kick it away. SA line-out inside their own patch. This is a proper rugby match! Great tempo.
James Lowe gets away from Cheslin Kolbe. Photograph: Niall Carson/PAShare
Updated at 19.08 CET
8 min: South Africa steal the ball metres from their line! Ireland went coast to coast and looked to have made the ground when Lowe passed back inside for O’Brien, but the young winger was isolated for a fraction of a second and Pieter-Steph du Toit stole in and won the ball on the ground. Brilliant defence from the world champs. The clearing kick makes good ground and Ireland throw, but not straight. So South Africa will have the scrum feed on their own 22. What a defensive set!
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7 min: NO CARD! I think SFM got away with that. It is a penalty for Ireland. Not even a yellow. We’ll debate this in the coming week. Anyway, Ireland line-out five out.
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7 min: Could be a card coming. SFM looked to have hit O’Brien on the right wing with his shoulder. It came off the back of brilliance from Lowe on the opposite wing who skinned Kolbe. Then Ireland charged forward with Hansen joining the line. The pass to O’Brien was short which gave the covering defence a chance to make the ground. du Toit made the first hit and SFM came in and never looked like wrapping his arm. I tell you what, this could be a third red card. I hope not. But could be.
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TRY! Ireland 0-5 South Africa (Willemse, 4)
Stunning! Springboks rugby in microcosm. The line-out forms into a formidable maul that won the penalty and powered forward. Then de Allende breaks from midfield and sticthes an off-load for Wiese. They recycle. SFM to Kolbe who sniped through a gap and passed to Willemse on the left wing. The fullback dived to the corner to dot down. A simply brilliant score that silences the crowd. SFM can’t land the conversion.
Damian Willemse takes the flag and the try! Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 18.56 CET
3 min: Ireland go over the top at the line-out and van der Flier gets the better of Wiese. But the Boks No 8 regathers himself and soon after gets over the ball and wins a penalty on the floor. Feinberg-Mngomezulu (SFM) hoofs it to touch on halfway.
Ireland’s Ryan Baird on the move. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/ReutersShare
Updated at 18.52 CET
2 min: Early penalty for Ireland. Twice in two minutes they found Lowe free on the left wing with lovely skip passes. Efficient start from Ireland. Now they’ll get the line-out just beyond the Boks’ 22.
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Alrighty, Matthew Carley blows his whistle and away we go!!
Boks in green, Ireland in white.
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Stirring stuff. Can the players answer Ireland’s call? They clobbered the Wallabies by a record score but this is a different bag of biltong.
I think a win today would count as Farrell’s best in a one-off Test.
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Anthems now. We’re getting close!
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Siya Kolisi is leading Catherine Connolly as he introduces the President of Ireland to his players.
Caelan Doris does likewise.
Big moment for the President. Big moment for Irish rugby. Big game! BIG RUGBY!
Ireland’s President Catherine Connolly meets the South Africa players. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/ReutersShare
Updated at 18.43 CET
RG Snyman leads the teams out on his 50th Test appearance.
The Leinster lock will be desperate to get one over his club teammates.
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“For us it’s massive.”
Rassie Erasmus isn’t downplaying how badly he wants this. He’s acheived everything in this game but he’s never beaten Ireland in Ireland.
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That last stat will be the one that should concern Irish fans.
The Boks – like England – have targeted the final 20 minutes of the game. It’s not just the Bomb Squad and the firepower from the bench, but a recalibration in how teams set themselves up.
Kwagga Smith and Andre Esterhuizen will look to open up a fragmenting game. Will the Irish be able to match that injection of tempo?
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How about some stats:
– Ireland have won four of their last five Tests against South Africa
– The Springboks have won their last six internationals
– South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s six international tries have all been scored in 2025
– The second half has produced the most points in nine of South Africa’s last 11 Tests
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South Africa team
Ireland have their young hot-shot 10, South Africa have theirs.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a future World Rugby Player of the Year (you can hold me to that). Now is his chance to prove that.
He’s got a formidable pack in front of him and a settled midfield of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende behind him.
Canan Moodie adds height to the wing and Andre Esterhuizen continues his role as a hybrid off the bench. Is he a flank? Is he a centre? Does it matter?
South Africa: 15 D Willemse; 14 C Moodie, 13 J Kriel, 12 D De Allende, 11 C Kolbe; 10 S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 C Reinach; 1 B Venter, 2 M Marx, 3 T du Toit, 4 E Etzebeth, 5 R Nortje, 6 S Kolisi (capt), 7 PS du Toit, 8 J Wiese.
Replacements: 16 J Grobbelaar, 17 G Steenekamp, 18 W Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 K Smith, 21 A Esterhuizen, 22 G Williams, 23 M Libbok.
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Ireland team
Sam Prendergasr gets the nod at fly-half as an otherwise settled side takes aim at the world champions.
Experience duo Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier return with gnarled veterans joining them across the park.
In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are the starting front row, with James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne in the engine room. There’s no tougher test for a pack in world rugby than a clash with the Boks. All these men will need to stand up.
Ireland: 15 M Hansen; 14 T O’Brien, 13 G Ringrose, 12 B Aki, 11 J Lowe; 10 S Prendergast, 9 J Gibson-Park; 1 A Porter, 2 D Sheehan, 3 T Furlong, 4 J Ryan, 5 T Beirne, 6 R Baird, 7 J van der Flier, 8 C Doris (cap).
Replacements: 16 R Kelleher, 17 P McCarthy, 18 F Bealham, 19 C Prendergast, 20 J Conan, 21 C Casey, 22 J Crowley, 23 T Farrell.
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Settle in!
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Updated at 17.44 CET
Teams and further updates to come.
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Updated at 17.44 CET
Kick-off at 5.40pm GMT.
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Updated at 17.44 CET
This is the one game that both coaches want. If it lives up to the billing, it could be the game of the year.
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Updated at 17.44 CET
But Andy Farrell is a slick operator and would have circled this date in red on his calendar long before Erasmus and his gang touched down at Dublin Airport. He’ll no doubt have a few tricks up his sleeve.
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Updated at 17.44 CET
Ireland, though, have not managed to kick on in quote the same fashion. The loss of Johnny Sexton is still keenly felt and there is an over reliance on some players who are in the autumn of their careers.
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Updated at 17.44 CET
Ireland are not the team they were two years ago and the South Africans will start as favourites. They have retained a core group of gnarled veterans while blooding young talents. They can strike on the counter, break teams down through methodical phase play and crash over opponents with sheer, unrivalled heft. There’s a reason sober rugby minds have wondered if they are the equal to Richie McCaw’s All Blacks.
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Updated at 17.43 CET
He has never won in Dublin. In fact, Ireland is the one team that has had his number wherever he’s played them. A 1-1 drawn series on his own patch came after a defeat in the World Cup. And though the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a second consecutive time, this one itch remains unscratched.
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Updated at 17.43 CET
Here we go …
Daniel Gallan
Rassie Erasmus has ticked every box as South Africa’s all-conquering coach. Except one.
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Updated at 17.43 CET
