"Let Farrell down again" - Four Ireland stars who FLOPPED against Springboks

After rebounding from an opening-November defeat to the All Blacks, Ireland had targeted a statement victory over the world champions to close out 2025 on a high.

Instead, Andy Farrell was forced to abandon his gameplan amid a frantic and exasperating night that saw James Ryan sent off, with Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley, Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy all shown yellow.

Below, we assess the players who struggled most against the Boks

Ryan had a disastrous outing. He was lucky not to receive a permanent red card after a reckless high tackle on Malcolm Marx, which left his team down a man and nullified a key try. His lineout timing and clearout work were ineffective, and he contributed minimally outside the incident, with only five tackles and one carry. Overall, a poor showing overshadowed by a costly and avoidable error.

Planet Rugby: "Lucky not to be permanently red-carded for what was a dirty, thug shot on Malcolm Marx. He tucked his arm before making contact and flew over the ruck before making head contact. Not only did his sending-off leave his team down a man for 20 minutes, but it scratched off his locking partner’s try that probably would have meant that Ireland led. Made five tackles and a carry before his brain explosion. "

Rugby Pass: "Unable to catch the first lineout throw from Sheehan and his yellow clearout on Malcolm Marx nullified Tadhg Beirne’s try moments later. Was replaced by Cian Prendergast. One turnover aside, a poor showing."

JOE: "On a day where Ireland didn’t need any unforced cards, Ryan gave away one of the most obvious and pointless red cards you will see. He would have been handy pushing in the scrum as well."

Porter was repeatedly dominated in the scrum by South Africa’s powerful front row, conceding multiple penalties and eventually a yellow card. While he remained active in open play, his struggles in set pieces were critical, contributing to his team’s disadvantage. His defensive work and loose play were mixed, but the front-row weaknesses were too prominent to ignore.

Planet Rugby: " Monstered in the scrums by Thomas du Toit and then Wilco Louw, conceding four first-half penalties, with the last of which earned him 10 minutes in the sin bin. Busy as ever around the park, but he is often shown up for his scrum illegalities when fronting up against powerful packs, and that was very much the case today. 

Rugby Pass: "Up against the formidable 136kg frame of Thomas du Toit, and he came off second best. Not much better in the loose, where he ceded a penalty after getting isolated by Bok jackallers in the 3rd minute. In his defence, he was less at fault than Furlong and Du Toit’s clear boring in went unpunished. Ironically, it was to be Porter who suffered the first front-row yellow."

JOE: "His scrum penalties firstly helped lead to a team yellow card, which sent Sam Prendergast off the field for an offside. The loosehead was then sent to the bin himself after four scrum infringements. To sum it up, it was worse than Tom Court vs England in 2012."

Furlong experienced a tough day in the scrums, being consistently overpowered despite a few solid carries and decent hands in open play. His inability to anchor the scrum overshadowed his otherwise competent play, highlighting that, despite his experience, he can no longer dominate at the set-piece at the highest level.

Planet Rugby: " Part of a scrum that was put into turbo reverse every time the two packs locked horns in the set-piece. A handful of strong carries and some good hands, but failed in his core duty, scrummaging. Finally hooked on the hour mark after a dreadful day in the scrums."

JOE: "Wasn’t as much to blame as Porter, but still played his part in one of the biggest scrum beat downs you’ll see in international rugby. A serious rethink is needed from Andy Farrell and scrum coach John Fogarty."

Rugby Pass: "He’s on the other end of the experience scale from Boan Venter, but you wouldn’t know it from the scrum contests, where he was frankly mullered. He gave it socks in the loose but it’s hard to look past the pasting Ireland suffered up front. He’s Ireland’s greatest ever tighthead but the awkward truth is he’s no longer able to cut it at the set-piece at this level."

O’Brien showed grit and effort in his debut, demonstrating selflessness in defense and resilience after a heavy collision. However, mistakes in kicking and positioning, along with being caught in big hits, limited his impact. Despite a tough learning curve, he showed potential for development at the international level.

JOE: "You can’t fault the effort of the man but he only played 31 minutes after a head collision which he should have seen yellow for."

Rugby Pass: "Shipped a big and very questionable shot from Feinberg-Mngomezulu but did well to bounce back from it. A kick straight into touch on 24 minutes wasn’t a great look either. A selfless tackler, he came off the wrong side of a huge collision with Canan Moodie but got the benefit of the doubt from the referee after coming out of it the worse for wear. A few too many errors to score any higher, it was a steep learning curve for the Test rookie."