International
Bright, brave Boks denied at the death in Marseille
A rousing 14-man fightback by the Springboks fell agonizingly short as France ended a run of seven successive defeats by the Boks with a 30-26 (halftime 16-10) victory at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday night.
The Boks played for 58 minutes with 14 men – after Pieter Steph du Toit was red carded for a head collision – and the last ten minutes with 13 men following a yellow carding for replacement Deon Fourie after a second infringement at a close-range France maul.
The home team also played the last 32 minutes with only 14 men of their own, after skipper Antonie Dupont was dismissed for ploughing into the aerial Cheslin Kolbe. The Springbok wing was upended, landing on his head, and played no further part after being withdrawn for a head injury assessment.
The Boks could proud of their effort however. They drove the game, winning the collisions for the most part and playing a high passing game against a French team that barely used their backline and resorted to the kick and the maul. The boot of fullback Thomas Ramos was their most potent weapon as he was successful with seven out of eight kicks at goal.
The Boks used three kickers (Kolbe, Faf de Klerk and Damian Willemse) – through circumstance not choice – and the trio were successful with all six kicks at goal to put last week’s Dublin troubles behind them.
It was a brilliant Test match as South Africa came back from 13-0 down shortly after their first card to lead with six minutes remaining before a spate of penalties gave France the field position to sneak a victory that should have been the Boks.
Kurt-Lee Arendse scores his fourth try in his fifth Test for the Boks.
Du Toit’s horror moment arrived in the 12th minute when he was sent off by referee Wayne Barnes. The loose forward half-stumbled half-drove at knee height to clean a ruck and his head made direct contact with the cheek of centre Jonathan Danty who was seated in the ruck, facing the oncoming Bok.
His departure robbed the Boks of a back-of-the-lineout option as well as his phenomenal work rate and France took advantage within nine minutes to add to their 6-0 lead from the boot of Ramos after two offside offences by the Boks.
French wing Damian Penaud ghosted outside Jesse Kriel’s attempted tackle on halfway to make the line break. France were held short but after eight phases of close-range drives loosehead prop Cyril Baille found a gap from five metres to score just to the left of the poles.
Ramos converted to take France into a 13-0 lead against the 14-man Boks. It looked a mountain to climb. This motivated and focused Springbok team strapped on their crampons and started up the cliff face.
Base camp was a penalty goal from Kolbe in the 25th minute when the more obvious option from long range and a difficult angle was a kick to the corner.
Better was to follow five minutes later when the maul option – working better than in recent weeks – propelled Siya Kolisi over the tryline as he broke away to dive expansively into the in-goal with Kolbe converting to reduce a once yawning deficit to three (13-10).
Cheslin Kolbe lines up one of his three successful kicks at goal.
Ramos kicked two penalty goals either side of halftime to one from Kolbe which restored the lead to six points (19-13) before the second red card of the match set up a rip-roaring second half in which the Boks claimed the lead for the first time in the 52nd minute and held if until the 74th by which time they had been reduced to 13-men.
Dupont was dismissed for a dangerous challenge on the airborne Kolbe who was flipped through 180 degrees to land his head and shoulder. The wing was removed for an HIA from which he did not return.
His dismissal was the cue for the Bomb Squad to arrive and although the resulting maul drive was stopped, De Klerk and Willie le Roux combined down the blindside to put over wing Kurt-Lee Arendse in the right-hand corner.
De Klerk – in the absence of Kolbe – converted brilliantly from the touchline and added a penalty goal to stretch out the Bok lead to four points (23-19). Flyhalf Damian Willemse became the Boks’ third kicker – landing a tricky penalty in the 63rd minute – after De Klerk had been withdrawn.
Roared on by their home crowd and a string of penalties against the Boks, which culminated in the yellow carding of Fourie, France found the momentum to claim a second try from a close range drive with Sipili Falatea finishing after patchy consultation with the TMO on whether there had been a double movement.
A sixth penalty goal for Ramos with two minutes remaining ran the clock down to allow the home side to close out a rapturously received home victory.
Scorers:
Springboks 26 (10) – Tries: Siya Kolisi, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk. Penalty goals: Kolbe (2), De Klerk, Damian Willemse.
France 30 (16) – Tries: Cyril Baille, Sipili Falatea. Conversion: Thomas Ramos. Penalty goals: Ramos (6).
Content & Images from – South Africa Rugby
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
Squad Update | Munster Prepare For All Blacks XV At Thomond
