Bloody Saturday for Springboks in Durban

For the Boks, this was a bloody Saturday.

In a match that ebbed and flowed, they showed great resolve but were beaten 25-24 by a team that keeps snapping at their heels.

If there were doubts, and a great many clad in emerald green are of this disposition, about the Springboks' World Champion credentials, they were partly erased by a stirring second-half display in Durban on Saturday.

That however was until replacement Ireland back Ciaran Frawley kicked the almost grinning World Champions in the teeth with two drop goals, the second after the siren to level the two-Test series. Many, including some Irish fans, will find the series score unpalatable.

The final whistle after this brutal and absorbing Test left those in the stands wanting more and the absence of a third Test will only compound the sense of loss.

The Boks, 16-6 down at the break, had to call on all the troubleshooting and fighting qualities that saw them emerge victorious from tight skirmishes en route to the RWC title last year.

This time they fell just short as Ireland, desperate to make a point, with a hint of irony did just that.

This match brooding, bristling, always ready to boil over threatened to do so properly, even after the final whistle as the Boks sought to have Frawley's effort chalked off because of obstruction.

Ireland however left the stage with arms raised as they added another layer to a rivalry that is becoming hard to contain.

Ireland answered head coach Andy Farrell's call for more shoulder to the wheel and greater precision. He was after all prepared to drop his captain in that pursuit. Caelan Doris and Tadhg Beirne and Co responded.

Farrell pointed to their second-half courage last week and that virtue was again in attendance after the Boks grabbed the initiative in the third quarter.

Earlier the Boks turned the screw, even before the full assembly of the Bomb Squad.

Ireland's cause was complicated by the sin-binning of No8 Doris just before the 50-minute mark.

By the 55th minute Handré Pollard, who looked a tad frazzled with ball in hand, had banged over the sixth of his eight blemish-free penalties to hand the Boks the lead for the first time.

Though the Bok substitutes applied the squeeze it was Frawley who dropped the bombs that mattered.

To be fair the Boks' first-half sins caught up with them.

While the Boks did not play with the same width as they did in Pretoria, they again used the skip pass generously. Often it looked like it held promise but handling errors kept tripping them up.

As was the case in Pretoria the hosts failed to get their maul going, but equally, Ireland deserve kudos.

The Bok line-out with Bongi Mbonambi feeding didn't always rise to the occasion, while another recurring theme emerged in the Boks' failure to assuredly exit their 22 from kick-ins.

However, their scrum, which so decisively helped swing the first Test in their favour, this time provided the home team traction when they were on the slide elsewhere.

The Boks also had some early rearranging to do but it proved a blessing.

Losing Willie le Roux in the opening move and the resultant impact of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu invoked memories of the Proteas' 438 game when Boeta Dippenaar's early departure opened the door to the pyrotechnics.

It was Feinberg-Mngomezulu who provided a spark just after the break as the Boks sought to grab the initiative.

Most things he touched turned to gold and his confidence was sky-high by the time error crept into his kicking game in the final quarter.

There was no doubt that the Boks bled for the cause in this match. They did not lack effort and the content of their character is not in question.

They moved mountains to get back into this match and just when they looked set to clinch the series they were denied by an Ireland team that are more than worthy World Champion adversaries.

Scorers

South Africa (6) 24 — Penalties: Handré Pollard (8).

Ireland (16) 25 — Try: Conor Murray. Conversion: Jack Crowley. Penalties: Crowley (4). Drop goals: Ciaran Frawley (2).