Ireland head into the last week of their longest season knowing they have lost the upper hand in the series with South Africa and will face the third Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday without Robbie Henshaw.
The centre was expected to fly home on Sunday and will need surgery on an injury to his knee cartilage, sustained in the second half of the second Test which the Springboks won with a remarkable comeback. The implications for Leinster, where Henshaw is moving next season, are unclear.
For Joe Schmidt the impact of losing Henshaw is likely to lead to the head coach putting out a backline significantly smaller than their opponents’, whose physicality late in the day in Johannesburg was too much for Ireland to handle.
The obvious option for Schmidt is to restore Luke Marshall to the midfield alongside his Ulster colleague Stuart Olding and recall Keith Earls on the left wing. It would leave Ireland light across the middle of the field.
Having led 19-3 at half-time and 26-10 going into the final quarter, Ireland were in touching distance of what would have been a historic series victory for any home nation in South Africa, and Ireland’s first triumph south of the equator since Australia in 1979. Instead they are under the cosh against a resurgent Springbok side rescued by their bench and Ireland’s fatigue.
“The work rate was terrible in the first half and I told them that in no uncertain terms at half-time,” Allister Coetzee, the South Africa head coach, said.
“It was much better in the second half. We wanted to use altitude as an advantage and take Ireland to places they hadn’t been before in the last 20 minutes.”
Coetzee has not so much dodged a bullet with this result, as a firing squad. His team were booed off the field at half‑time but the replacements Ruan Combrinck – for Lwazi Mvovo who was struggling under Ireland’s aerial bombardment – and Warren Whitely scored, as did Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende.
Schmidt said: “Obviously De Allende was relatively devastating in his carries. I think Combrinck was unbelievably tough to put down. We were a bit unlucky – at one stage Conor Murray wasn’t able to get to the ball carrier and then that allowed him to get through. Once he had the ball in his hands he was a real handful. I don’t really want to go on – it’s a long list. We’ve got to try to get together and I suppose quell some of those outstanding performances that you saw in that last 20 to 30 minutes.”
The main positive for Schmidt was that a makeshift team were competitive for so long, especially the tighthead Tadhg Furlong who, making his first start, contributed significantly to a very good Ireland scrum before the bench was emptied. But the head coach is expected to recall Mike Ross for Port Elizabeth, not least because it would make for a stronger bench, the weakness of which hobbled Ireland in the final quarter. Jordi Murphy and CJ Stander, who has served his week’s suspension, will be recalled as well.
Coetzee’s dilemma is all about selection under the political restrictions. The aim is to have 50% of the side comprising “players of colour” by the 2019 World Cup. It remains to be seen if he delays that transition in favour of winning a series or sticks with the team to whom he gave a second chance after the defeat in Cape Town.
South Africa Le Roux; Pietersen, Mapoe, De Allende, Mvovo (Combrinck, ht); Jantjies, De Klerk; Mtawarira (Mbonami, 51), Strauss (capt), Malherbe (J Redelinghuys, 47), Etzebeth, Du Toit, Louw, Kolosi (Mostert, 67), Vermeulen (Whiteley, ht).
Tries Combrinck, Whiteley, Du Toit, De Allende Pens Jantjies 2 Cons Jantjies 3.
Ireland Payne (O’Halloran, 76); Trimble, Henshaw (Madigan, 76), Olding, Gilroy; Jackson, Murray; McGrath (Kilcoyne, 66), Best (capt; Strauss, 65), Furlong (Bealham, 61), Toner, Roux (Ryan, 51), Henderson (Reidy, 66), Ruddock, Heaslip.
Tries Toner, Heaslip Cons Jackson 2 Pens Jackson 4.
Referee Angus Gardner (Australia).
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