For an hour in Cape Town on Saturday, the week of hard work looked like it was paying off. The Bok Women scored inside two minutes, were still within a score at half-time and then took the lead. Then the visitors found another gear.
The Springbok Women second Test result: Ireland 38, Springbok Women 17, in the WXV Global Series. The hosts led 17-14 with about 20 minutes left before Ireland ran in four tries. Ireland were 14-10 up at half-time. The final score is on SA Rugby’s match centre, and the details come from SA Rugby’s match report and SA Rugby magazine’s full-time report.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Springbok Women 17-38 Ireland |
| Half-time | Springbok Women 10-14 Ireland |
| Bok Women tries | Unam Tose, Sizophila Solontsi, Vainah Ubisi |
| Bok Women kicks | Jakkie Cilliers 1 conversion |
| Ireland tries | Beibhinn Parsons 3, Aoife Dalton 2, Erin King |
| Ireland kicks | Dannah O’Brien 4 conversions |
| Venue | Athlone Stadium, Cape Town |
| Competition | WXV Global Series, second Test |
A flying start and a tight first half
It took two minutes for the Bok Women to get on the board. Unam Tose went over from a lineout drive, and Athlone had something to shout about early.
Ireland settled quickly. Captain Erin King scored, Beibhinn Parsons added another, and Dannah O’Brien converted both. The hosts also lost Alichia Arries to the sin bin in the first half, for a dangerous tackle.
The pack kept the Bok Women in touch. Shortly before the break, Sizophila Solontsi finished in the corner after a driving maul. SA Rugby’s report says Ireland’s Aoibheann Reilly was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous clean in the build-up. Cilliers’ conversion hit the upright, and the teams turned around at 14-10.
Springbok Women second Test result: where it turned
The best moment of the afternoon for the home crowd came on 58 minutes. Lock Vainah Ubisi went over, Cilliers converted, and the Bok Women led 17-14.
It lasted three minutes. Parsons scored her second on 61 minutes to put Ireland back in front, and soon afterwards Cilliers was shown a yellow card for a high tackle. From there Ireland were clinical. Aoife Dalton scored with ten minutes to go, Parsons completed her hat-trick three minutes later, and Dalton added a second in the 79th minute. O’Brien finished with four conversions.
From 17-14 down, Ireland scored the last 24 points of the game.
Why it matters
This was the second and final Test of the series, and Ireland have won both. Last Saturday’s meeting at the same ground ended 40-27, as our first Test report told it, so the visitors take the series 2-0 with a combined score of 78-44.
Before this series the two sides had met only once, 20 years ago, as our first Test preview set out. The coaches changed eight starting jerseys for this game, which our second Test preview covered, and the forwards answered: two of the three tries came from a lineout drive and a driving maul.
Our view: there is plenty to build on in that first hour. A side that leads Ireland with 20 minutes left is not far away. The lesson is discipline and the closing stretch. Three yellow cards in one Test, two of them to the home side, and a sin-binning that came just after Ireland had retaken the lead, made the last quarter far harder than it needed to be. Ireland’s finishing did the rest.
What comes next
SA Rugby’s report described this as the Bok Women’s final match of the season, so the squad heads into the off-season with two Tests against Ireland behind them and a clear list of things to fix. The weekend is not done for South African rugby: the URC round still has games to run, as our weekend fixtures guide lists.