Springboks end Ireland hoodoo in Loftus epic as Andy Farrell’s men left to rue missed opportunities

The Springboks claimed their first victory over Ireland since 2016 as they overcame the Six Nations champions, winning 27-20 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for an early try for South Africa before Cheslin Kolbe went over in the second period, with a 78th minute penalty try from a scrum sealing the win.

Ireland‘s tries came via Jamie Osborne, Conor Murray and Ryan Baird, while James Lowe had a stunning long-range effort chalked off due to an earlier ruck offence.

The Irish will also rue Caelan Doris going agonisingly close to grounding from a close-range carry and Lowe’s error that led to Kolbe’s try as the Boks go 1-0 up in the series.

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More to follow…

The teams

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Garry Ringrose

Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Mike Adamson (SRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)