The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place in KwaZulu-Natal, during the Anglo-Zulu War, in 1879. The Irish team’s second-half performance against South Africa brought to mind a very small British garrison’s defence of their position after 12 hours of bitter fighting, against the massed forces of a proud Zulu nation.
Although their discipline clearly let them down, not one Irish player left anything behind him as this particularly bitter encounter transformed the Aviva Stadium into the House of Cards. And it could have been worse.
James Ryan’s exceptionally foolish and costly dive into Malcolm Marx merited a straight red, without replacement. It also wiped out an Ireland try. Tommy O’Brien could also have seen yellow; he was responsible for being at a much lower height when ball carrier Canan Moodie ran towards him.
But referee Matthew Carley erred in not adding another to the collection, failing to hand an early yellow to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for his hit on O’Brien. “Penalty only” was a poor decision. It was an easier card for the referee to give than not to give. It was also the start of a serious falling-out with the crowd.
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Ireland were heroic as they defended their line, particularly in the second half. And then, as the match came to its eventual conclusion after more than two hours of ferocious physicality, it was Ireland who were on the attack. Incredibly, after taking a monstrous battering, they very nearly had the last say with a try at the finish.
South Africa were on a mission to beat up Ireland at the scrum, generating penalty after penalty. The Irish scrum was simply not good enough to resist the pressure, enormous as it was.
It will take some time to get over this pummelling. However, as a rule of thumb, it’s unwise for a referee to concentrate solely on the actions of just one frontrow. The Irish coaches will look closely at the angles of Marx and his tighthead prop Thomas du Toit. Carley should have given them some attention as it’s an impossibility that they were squeaky clean throughout.
South Africa succeeded in their mission, but if this match does not convince World Rugby that the sport needs urgent fixing, then nothing will. Leaving things as they are, just finding ways of reducing the number of scrums in the hope that all will be well, is proving to be a mistake.
There are potential solutions, such as limiting the distance a scrum can advance and requiring the ball to come out once it reaches the number eight’s feet. And, of course, getting the props to support their own body weight.
When Finlay Bealham joined the fray, his feet were so far behind him that the moment scrum pressure came on, he pancaked flat to the floor. There’s little doubt that Andrew Porter is a marked man, but he is still inclined to turn inward, or to set up incorrectly.
The sad thing about this display was that we’ve recently watched the Springboks playing some great rugby, combining dominance up front with very swanky back play. The performance against New Zealand recently was breathtaking, but they really shortchanged us on Saturday. Yes, they’re the best team in the world, but they’re bloody hard to like and that’s a shame.
Hand on heart, it’s hard to blame Carley for the defeat. While both teams were at it, Ireland’s protection of the ball at the tackle was quite frequent, just plain old-fashioned sealing-off, denying the visitors a chance to contest possession.
Any notion that we were hard-done-by on the penalty count is also incorrect. Carley pinged South Africa 13 times and Ireland on 18 occasions, of which six were at scrum time, one being the penalty try.
I feel sorry for those who parted with hard-earned money to be at the Aviva Stadium. The advertised menu was a far cry from the dire dish served up. From start to finish, the match was a torrid, toxic affair. It did nothing to convince any parent that rugby is a sport suitable for their child.
The continuous pick-and-drives close to the goalline, once again, were the order of the day. It’s madness, unattractive, boring and a danger to the brain health of players. But it seems that nobody cares. Once upon a time, rugby was a game of contact and evasion; on Saturday, it was attritional brutality, poisonous stuff, with not a single ounce of love lost.
Both Rassie Erasmus and Eddie Jones have spoken recently on the vexed issue of dangerous “tackles” similar to Ryan’s effort. Following South Africa’s match against France, Erasmus spoke about the difficulty big men have in getting down low to tackle. The Springboks’ appeal against Lood de Jager’s straight red was rightly dismissed, but it pointed to a worryingly different interpretation of shoulder-led hits.
Jones rode in on the discussion after Wales v Japan. The Japan head coach told us none of the offences in that match were intentional and the maximum sanction should be a penalty. Can you even begin to imagine the mayhem, the chaos, the blood, if these offences were never carded?
Both Erasmus and Jones are missing the fundamental point. When a player leads with his shoulder into the head of an opponent, arm tucked, it is not a tackle – it is dangerous play and the consequential sanctions are well coded.
The comments of the two coaches underline a very serious disconnect between what World Rugby is trying to achieve, which is to protect players from brain injuries. It is a disconnect that is becoming a major difference between the two hemispheres. Where that might lead is anybody’s guess.
