February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Having been physically outplayed in the opening test in Bloemfontein the previous Saturday, they went to Newlands looking to reassert themselves against a side they consider themselves at the very least the equals of. They left in need of a rethink.
They weren’t helped by the fact that Gordon D’Arcy was missing, injured in that Bloemfontein match. Or that Geordan Murphy had to cry off beforehand with a chest infection. Or that Girvan Dempsey had to go off after 20 minutes with a nasty facial injury. Actually, they weren’t especially hindered by Dempsey’s departure, Gavin Duffy replacing him to excellent effect in his first outing for his country.
Ireland had started well and even managed to forge and early lead, Brian O’Driscoll sending Tyrone Howe away with a pass of true genius after Paul O’Connell and Anthony Foley had pushed on from a lineout. Howe went over in the corner and Ronan O’Gara converted.
But that was as good as it got. South Africa came at Ireland in waves between then and halftime and by the time Ireland came up for air, they were 20-10 behind. Breyton Paulse and Jaque Fourie ran in the South African tries and Percy Montgomery slid right back into his flawless kicking role in his first game for the Springboks in three years. All Ireland had in reply was an O’Gara drop goal.
The second half was a much tighter affair, the only scores an O’Driscoll try converted by David Humphreys and two Montgomery penalties. Ireland never looked like bridging the gap and ended a long season, in O’Driscoll’s words, “running on empty in the direction of a bridge too far.”