Rugby, Ireland-South Africa 13-24, referee Carley disaster

An Ireland submerged in cards (4 yellows and a red within 20 minutes) held heroically against South Africa but lost 24-13 after a very difficult match. The Irish paid a high price for the indiscipline, but also for the questionable decisions of the Englishman Matthew Carley, referee of the match, who first pardoned the South African Mngomezulu after a shoulder surgery which in these Nations Series has always been punished severely, then instead gave Ireland no concessions, even exceeding the limits of common sense: 4 cards in the first half, 3 yellows and a red within 20 minutes, with the Irish even finding themselves with 12 men at a certain point. There was also a lot of suffering in the scrum (with another yellow in the second half, and there are 5 in total) where the Irish suffer but Carley forgives any malice in the Springboks’ front line, with Du Toit first and Louw afterwards who often pushed wrongly right from the engagement. In the other match of the late afternoon, in Malaga, Spain came close to achieving the feat against Fiji in a daring match that ended 41-33 for the islanders, who were saved in the last 10 minutes.

tag festival

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The first Irish attack was defused by Wiese, then South Africa struck at the first opportunity: Mngomezulu inspired the acceleration of Kolbe who opened the hole and created numerical superiority, Pieter Steph Du Toit and Willemse arrived in support, diving for the flag to make it 5-0. After 5 minutes things heat up: irregular tackle by Mngomezulu, who only intervenes with his shoulder on O’Brien, and Ringrose goes hard against the South African midfielder. A brawl broke out which was barely managed by the referees: for the referee Carley it was only a free kick, with no cards despite the number 10 intervening very harshly and with an intervention punished much more severely in recent weeks. However, Farrell’s team did not take advantage of the opportunity and crashed into South Africa’s great defence, with Du Toit snatching the ball from O’Brien’s hands. Ireland continues to play the game and waste, reaching the apotheosis of self-harm in the 19th minute: first Prendergast throws away 3 points by hitting the post from a very central position, on the rebound Lowe recovers the ball and after a series of charges the Irish go further with Beirne, but the try is disallowed due to an attacking foul by Ryan with a clean shoulder. Referee Carley’s punishment is severe, because the intervention of the second row is considered dangerous and costs him a 20-minute red card: damage and double insult. South Africa immediately found the opportunity to take advantage of it: they would have two opportunities to score but they preferred to play in both cases with a scrum, and in the end the choice paid off, because after a series of charged shots (and another foul which cost Prendergast a yellow card) Reinach found the hole to score the goal to make it 12-0.

Ireland in 12!

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Despite the double numerical inferiority, Ireland made a sensational reaction: Van der Flier took out 2 in one fell swoop, Bundee Aki stepped up and Sheehan finished for 12-7, scored with 2 men less. At the end of the first half another card arrived, with Crowley punished for having irregularly disturbed Reinach from the ground. It remains 15 against 13 because in the meantime Ireland recovers a man, but South Africa continues to push and dominate in the scrum. After the third collapse in a row Carley decides to punish Andrew Porter too: yellow and Ireland with 12 men! If the warning for repeated fouls is indeed foreseen, the English referee however ignores all common sense, bringing a team already crumbled by cards to its knees. With 3 more men the Springboks have an easy time: a dominant scrum and the Irish broken up, the free kick goal arrives directly for the 19-7 with which the first half ends.

THE RECOVERY

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In the second half Ireland, with great pride, closed the gap with Prendergast’s foot. The hope, however, lasts less than a minute: Mngomezulu punctures Gibson Park’s tackle too easily and at that point the path is clear for the goal to make it 24-10. The Irish, with great suffering, heroically held out until the players returned from the penalty box and in the 55th minute – finally with equal numbers – they closed the gap with Prendergast’s foot. Farrell’s team, however, has spent a lot and is forced to defend itself from the outbursts of a South Africa that wants to close the game: in the 62nd minute yet another collapse in the scrum (also caused by a certain malice of the world champions’ front lines, with Louw pushing wrongly right from the start) costs McCarthy a yellow card, the fifth of the match. In the 70th minute Crowley performs a miracle by anticipating Moodie on a loose ball in the in-goal area, and in the final Ireland even closes in attack and after 4 consecutive fouls South Africa also receives a yellow card: Grant Williams goes off. Farrell’s team persists in the attack, but Kwagga Smith’s stands out among the white Irish shirts and defuses the home team’s last attempt to reopen the match. It ends 24-13 for South Africa, but there will be a lot of talk about this match in the next few days.

FIGI, WHAT A THRILL!

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How much did Fiji risk in Malaga: Spain (14th in the ranking and growing greatly) plays a sumptuous match and puts the islanders in very serious difficulty, coming close to achieving the feat. After an initial back-and-forth with tries from Bay and Canakaivata, the Iberians returned to the front with a shot from Bontempo, Fiji responded with Kuruvoli’s try after half an hour but were surprised at the end of the first half by Laforga’s goal to make it 15-14 which went into half-time. In the second half Bontempo extends further from the pitch, then Kuruvoli finds the counter-overtaking goal for 21-18. There wasn’t even time to put the ball back in the center and Spain scored twice in the space of 3 minutes: in the 51st minute Bay found the way for the third Iberian try, Bontempo converted and then in the 54th minute he put in the shot to make it 28-21. Armostrong-Ravula closes the gap from the pitch, but in the 63rd minute Boronat finds the goal to make it 33-24. In the final, however, Fiji came out strong: Doge scored in the 66th minute with a conversion from the usual Armstrong-Ravula (perfect with his foot), then in the 74th minute Nasova found the overtaking goal. As time expired, Fiji closed the match: Armstrong-Ravula again scored to make it 41-33.