Athlone came for a party. The sun was out, the stands were loud, and for most of the first half the Springbok Women gave their people every reason to believe. Then the visitors did what the best sides do. They waited for the mistakes, and they made every one of them count.
The Springbok Women v Ireland result was a 40-27 win for Ireland in the first WXV Global Series Test at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday. Ireland led 21-17 at the break and scored six tries to five. SA Rugby’s own report gives that score, as do the full-time reports of SA Rugby magazine, Rugby365 and The Athlete, and RTE Sport counts the six Irish tries.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Springbok Women 27-40 Ireland |
| Half-time | Springbok Women 17-21 Ireland |
| Springbok Women tries | Aseza Hele, Vainah Ubisi, Maria Tshiremba, Lerato Makua, Alichia Arries |
| Springbok Women kicks | Jakkie Cilliers 1 conversion |
| Ireland tries | Linda Djougang (2), Aoife Dalton, Jane Clohessy, Béibhinn Parsons, Erin King |
| Ireland kicks | Dannah O’Brien 5 conversions |
| Yellow cards | Two for Ireland, one of them captain Erin King |
| Venue | Athlone Stadium, Cape Town |
| Competition | WXV Global Series, first of two Tests |
Four lead changes before the break
Ireland struck first. After South African errors deep in their own half, centre Aoife Dalton crashed over inside the first ten minutes and Dannah O’Brien added the extras. The home side had chances of their own soon after, a crooked lineout throw five metres from the Irish line among them, but it was No 8 Aseza Hele who answered, finishing down the left from about 30 metres out.
Then Ireland lost their captain. Erin King was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle midway through the half, and the Bok Women made the extra player count. Lock Vainah Ubisi went over after patient build-up, Jakkie Cilliers converted, and Athlone had a 12-7 lead to sing about.
It did not last long. Prop Linda Djougang put Ireland back in front, wing Maria Tshiremba replied in the left corner to make it 17-14, and on the stroke of half-time lock Jane Clohessy scored the converted try that sent the visitors in four points up.
How the Springbok Women v Ireland result got away
The Test turned in the 12 minutes after the restart. Wing Béibhinn Parsons finished in the right corner two minutes into the second half, and in the 52nd minute King, back from the bin, scored a converted try of her own for 33-17.
That is where it was lost. SA Rugby’s report puts Ireland in the South African half for almost 60% of the match and points to unforced errors at crucial moments and lapses in defence. Give a side ranked fifth in the world that much ball in the right areas and they rarely waste it.
The Bok Women did not go quietly. With Ireland down to 14 for a second time, flank Lerato Makua scored after an earlier effort had been held up over the line, and it was 33-22 with a little more than ten minutes to play. Djougang ended any thought of a comeback with her second try, a pick-and-drive late on, and O’Brien’s fifth conversion made it 40-22. Wing Alichia Arries had the last word with a consolation try.
A milestone, and a week to put it right
There was a proud moment in the middle of it all. Yonela Ngxingolo came on with the fresh forwards in the second half to win her 50th Test cap. SA Rugby counted 3,709 people in the stands, and they kept backing their team to the end.
It helps to remember where this rivalry started. Before Saturday the two countries had met once, at the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Edmonton, and Ireland won that day 37-0 without conceding a point. This was the first Test between them on South African soil, and Sizophila Solontsi’s side scored five tries against one of the best teams in the world. The gap is real. It is also a lot smaller than it was.
The handling errors and the defensive lapses need fixing, and there is not much time. The same two sides meet again at Athlone Stadium on Saturday 31 October in the second and final Test.
For the background to the series, the squad and the captaincy change, read our preview of the first Test. Fluit’s Five of 20 October has the story of the new captain, and Fluit’s Five of 22 October set out what this Test meant. The rest of the weekend’s kick-offs are in our weekend fixture guide.