"Card Chaos" - 5 Things You Missed: Ireland 13-24 South Africa - Autumn Series

South Africa imposed their dominance upon the scrum in the second half, with Rassie Erasmus' men able to grind out the win against Ireland who were at one stage down to 12 men in Dublin.

The first half began with a bang, as the Springboks were across the line for their opening score after just four minutes. A powerful rolling maul split the Irish defence at centre-field, with Cheslin Kolbe quick to make a break through the splintered back-line. South Africa fly half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was lucky to stay on the pitch, as referee Matthew Carley found lee-way in his no-arms hit, which made contact to the head of Ireland wing on Tommy O'Brien.

The wing shipped a pass to Pieter-Steph du Toit who then found Damian Willemse out on the wing for a diving finish. After a fiery start, Willemse's 'shhh' celebration was not well recived by the hostile Aviva Stadium crowd, who rained down boos throughout the match.

A missed conversion kept Ireland within a score, with the Aviva faithful exploding in rejoice as Tadhg Beirne crossed the whitewash from close range. However, his locking partner James Ryan cancelled out the try, as the Leinster man made a senseless shoulder-led clear out to the head of Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, with a penalty (and subsequent 20-minute red card) ruling out the score from a proceeding ruck.

South Africa would then have a try cancelled out, as the referee and TMO dictated the first half. Boan Venter's close range finish was chalked off, as Jasper Weise's proceeding offload pass to Ruan Nortje was a forward pass.

With the Aviva at a fever-pitch, the Boks struck to open the floodgates to a chorus of boos. After a series of sustained pressure pinned Ireland on their 5m line, halfback Cobus Reinach threw a nice dummy-feint, to skip free from contact and race across the try-line. Sam Prendergast was next to the sin bin, as the Ireland fly half took the bullet for repeat penalty offences, after making a tackle from an offside position.

Jack Crowley was flung into the fray after Tommy O'Brien was withdrawn for a Head Injury Assessment. A nasty coming together saw the Leinster wing collide with Canan Moodie, as the Springboks wing blasted past the man from Blackrock. However, Crowley was next in the sin bin, as the Munster out-half illegally knocked the ball out the hands of Reinach, with both of Farrell's fly half options sat in the bin. However, Ireland would defy the odds and grab a try with 13 men, as colossal carries from Josh van der Flier and Bundee Aki pinned back the Springboks, before Dan Sheehan muscled his way over from close range.

The first half was concluded in dramatic fashion. Ireland dropped down to 12 men, as Andrew Porter joined the mass of bodies in the sin bin after illegally halting a dominant Springbok scrum. With a three-man disadvantage, Ireland conceded a penalty try to close out the half before a downpour of distain accompanied the departing teams from the disgruntled Aviva Stadium fans.

Chorus of boos accompanied the returning Springboks, yet the travelling pockets of green and gold soon had their next try to cheer. Only after Sam Prendergast nailed a penalty to briefly drop the deficit, his opposite man Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was on hand for a stunning solo score. The Stormers man slalomed through the back-field after bundling over Jamison Gibson-Park's tackle attempt.

Prendergast kept Ireland's score-board ticking over, with a well stuck kick at goal at the 55th minute. The Irish sin bin then welcomed Paddy McCarthy, as the replacement prop was brandished with a yellow card following repeat scrum-time penalties against the salivating Springboks.

RG Snyman was then next man sent from the match... but only briefly. A rare 'rescinded' yellow card brought the South Africa lock back into the match for the Springboks, before Grant Williams was sent to the bin following accumulated penalty offenses. A tense period of sustained Ireland pressure closed out the match, with South Africa able to hang on for the win.

TRIES: 1 (Sheehan 36')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Crowley 37')

PENALTIES: 2 (Prendergast 43', 55')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 5 (Ryan 17', Prendergast 35', Crowley 39', Porter 40', McCarthy 62')

RED CARDS: 1 (Ryan (20-min) 17')

TRIES: 3 (Willemse 4', Reinach 35', Penalty Try 40')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Feinberg-Mngomezulu 35')

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Williams 78')

RED CARDS: 0

Referee Matthew Carley had a busy day in Dublin, as the match official dished out a total of seven cards in this poorly disciplined clash between Ireland and the Springboks. With the exception of RG Snyman's rescinded yellow card towards the end of the match, five Ireland players spent time in the sin bin with Springboks replacement halfback Grant Williams also saw out the match from the side-lines.

The controversy began as majority of the Aviva Stadium faithful believed that Springboks fly half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was deserving of a card, after the 10 sent Tommy O'Brien into touch with a shoulder-led collision to the head. However, Carley deemed that both players were falling in contact, with only a penalty awarded to the hot-stepping out-half. So much has been made about the Springboks tackle height this week, following the post-match citeations of Franco Mostert and Lood de Jager, this match started off on the same note that has marred much of the Autumn Series.

The controversial collisions continued, with James Ryan's dismissal resulting in the sole red card of the match, albeit with the added exception of being a 20-minute variant. Ryan's senseless shot on Malcolm Marx was right in the eye-line of the referee, with a bunker review upgrading the on-field yellow card to that of a red. Tommy O'Brien's collision with Canan Moodie was the next incident under the TMO's view, with the HIA-enforced exit of O'Brien actually ruled as a penalty against the Leinster wing.

Jack Crowley's trip to the sin bin was a justified one, as the Munster man needlessly stuck his hand in whilst Cobus Reinach picked the ball up from the back of a ruck. Andrew Porter's departure was a result of repeated penalty offenses in the forward pack, as was the reason behind the exit of his replacement prop Paddy McCarthy. The technical offenses were pivotal in Ireland's downfall in the second half scrum, as South Africa twisted the knife by repeatedly opting to take a scrum re-set against the faultering front row.

The closing two cards first saw RG Snyman handed his marching orders, before the referee overturned his own on-field decision and 'rescinded' the offensive following an earlier incident from an Ireland player. Boks nine Grant Williams was last to fill out the sin-bin, as the Springboks fought beyond the legalities of the match to keep Ireland out in the closing surges to the line. Williams was withdrawn, yet the Boks kept Ireland at bay, in a closing image that defined the flow of the Test.

Making their returns to the Ireland squad for their first home match of the Autumn Nations Series, Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier each recieved a warm welcome back to Dublin by their regular faithful at the Aviva Stadium. The Leinster stars both picked up hamstring strains whilst out in Chicago, as Ireland battled the All Blacks to commence their November campaign.

It was an arduous wait on the side-lines for the Leinster duo, with Ringrose and Van der Flier both sitting out of Ireland's wins over Japan and Australia. The club-mates wasted no time upon their respective returns to the Irish capital, with both Ringrose and van der Flier immediately involved in the physcial fray against Rassie Erasmus' men. Van der Flier at times resembled a red scrum-capped yo-yo, as the back row was twice withdrawn from the match in wake of a replacement front row, as both Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy were dispatched to serve their time in the sin bin.

With the South Africans imposing a rigid defensive line that met Ringrose head on, the centre dug into his arsenal of tricks and stuck some neat kicks into the back-field that asked questions of the sweeping Springboks. Ringrose departed the match with less than 10 minutes on the clock as scrum half Craig Casey entered the pitch for a unique change of tactics that could well have been injury enforced (as yet unconfirmed), as starting nine Jamison Gibson-Park saw out the remainder of the match in the midfield.

Sam Prendergast was once again a focal point of the pre-match discussion, with the Leinster fly half put under the microscope of scrutiny following an underwhelming defensive effort against Australia last week, despite a solid outing on the attacking foot. Prendergast was at fault for Len Ikitau's try for the Wallabies, with a soft tackle attempt bundled through by the Exeter Chiefs man.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was quick to defend his out-half in the week, as he expressed that every player in World Rugby has 'work-ons', with Prendergast's defensive errors being unjustly honed in on upon each performance from the 22-year-old. Picked to lead at 10 against the ultra-physical Springboks, Prendergast's again pipped Jack Crowley to the starting XV, with a solid defensive outing required in Ireland's final Test match of 2025.

Prendergast's defensive display was for the most part, a step up from his performance against the Wallabies even with the added intensity of a Test against the Springboks. Yet, there was an area where Prendergast was caught on the back-foot, as the Leinster man had his back turned to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomzeulu's line-break and clattering carry over Gibson-Park in the lead up to the Stormers man's try.

Leading out the Springboks at the familar surroundings of his Leinster home ground, RG Snyman made a milestone apperence for the Springboks upon the fourth round of the Quilter Nations Series. The former Munster lock ran out in Dublin for his 50th South Africa Test cap and led his side through the smoke and fireworks for the pre-match presentation.

Despite leading out the side, Snyman then dropped down to the bench to play his part in the revered 'bomb squad'. The Leinster lock received a resounding ovation as he replaced Eben Etzebeth at the 49th minute, with Snyman immediately involved and disrupted the set-piece by nullifying the Irish line-out and adding extra gumption to the scrum dominance.

Taking to the Aviva Stadium pitch for the first time in her career, after being elected President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly walked the famous red pathway and met each of the South Africa and Ireland players ahead of the kick-off. After not making a public apperence for Ireland's triumphant soccer victory over Portugal and the latest win over Australia for Andy Farrell's side, expectation was rampant amonmgst Ireland fans that they would see their newly elected President.

Connolly recieved a warm ovation from the Aviva Stadium, as a chorus of military band personnel serenaded her introductions to the two match day squads of Ireland and the Springboks. Then followed the national anthem of South Africa, and Ireland's trio of pre-home match songs, as Amhrán na bhFiann, Ireland's Call and a rendition of 'Zombie' by the Cranberries echoed around the Aviva.