South Africa have battled to a fortunate 27-20 victory over Ireland in the first test, playing for only the second time since October’s World Cup triumph and struggling to shrug off the rust.
Both sides scored three tries in a tight match at Loftus Versfeld with home wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe crossing for the home side, plus a penalty try awarded by English referee Luke Pearce.
Ireland fullback Jamie Osborne scored on debut with Conor Murray and Ryan Baird adding tries for the touring side in a dramatic final five minutes.
“It’s amazing, honestly. I can’t explain how great it has been to just come back and be with the boys. This team is so special. What we did in 2023 was for the people so to come back and play here is really special,” South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said.
The Springboks made many mistakes in a scrappy performance and benefited from marginal refereeing calls as Six Nations champions Ireland stayed in the contest right to the end, despite conceding after three minutes.
South Africa got off to a perfect start, swinging the ball down the line from one side of the pitch to the other before Arendse side stepped inside and burst over for a simple try.
But the Six Nations champions very quickly went on the attack, making it clear the test would be no walkover and forcing furious defence from the hosts.
After an exchange of penalties that put South Africa 13-3 up, Irish fullback Osborne scored in the 35th minute after incredible leg work from winger James Lowe, who kept the ball alive as he was being tackled into touch, to reduce the half-time score to 13-8.
After the usually reliable Handre Pollard missed three penalties to stretch South Africa’s narrow lead they had a lucky break when Lowe kept a long kick in play only for poacher Kolbe to hack it forward and score.
In a see-saw finish veteran Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray broke through to score, only for South Africa to go down the other end, win a scrum and dramatically drive the Irish back over the line for a penalty try.
Ireland refused to give up, and with South Africa down to 14 men after Arendse was yellow-carded, Baird went over in the corner two minutes from time to reduce the winning margin to seven points.
“There are a lot of positives to take out of our performance but little bits here and there, playing against a side as good as this, they are going to punish you,” Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony said.
“We’ll go and have a look, fix a few things and look forward to next week.”
The sides meet again on Saturday in Durban.
France down Argentina
A France team which debuted eight players beat Argentina 28-13 in the first Test on Sunday to usher in a new generation for French rugby.
Center Antoine Frisch and winger Theo Attissogbe scored tries on debut for France while scrumhalf and captain Baptiste Serin scored their first try in his first test start in four years.
France has taken a squad of 42 players to Argentina including 22 new caps, and this Test gave the rugby world the first sight of the new guard which will take France on from last year’s disappointing home Rugby World Cup performance.
Among those who made their debuts, Samoa-born Posolo Tuilagi came off the bench in the second half. The 149-kilogram (328-pound) lock is the sixth member of the Tuilagi family to play international rugby.
France extended its winning run against Argentina to five matches and has won 29 of 33 tests in the last three years.
“Everything went well. We started the game well and respected the gameplan,” said Frisch, who has committed to France after playing for Emerging Ireland. “We’ve been preparing for the last two weeks.
“It’s a dream come true to play my first game for my country.”
The match broke a run of success for new head coaches in the July internationals. Scott Robertson guided New Zealand to a one-point win over England and Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies beat Wales 25-16. But Felipe Contepomi wasn’t able to repeat the feat in his first test in charge of the Pumas.
The first half opened as a kicking contest, a struggle for field position which France mostly won through the probing kicks of halves Antoine Hastoy and Serin. Otherwise, the packs wrestled in the middle of the field as they tried to provide front-foot ball for the backs.
Argentina was first to take the ball wide, sweeping around the outside corner through right winger Bautista Delguy in the 18th minute.
But France put first points on the board, a penalty to Hastoy in the 21st, answered three minutes later by a penalty to Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras.
Argentina came close to scoring in the 28th when Delguy went over in the left corner after running onto a chipped kick from fullback Martin Bogado, but Delguy was held up by Frisch.
Delguy and Jeronimo de la Fuente again found space on the right side but that attack ended when Thomas Gallo knocked on.
France broke the stalemate just before halftime with a brilliant solo try to Serin, who broke through the middle of a line and showed outstanding football skills to control the ball. He was tackled without the ball by Pablo Matera on the tryline but the ball rolled back into his grasp and he was able to ground it.
Giant prop Georges-Henri Colombe went close to adding to France’s 10-3 halftime lead in the new half, carrying two defenders as he stretched for the line but grounding the ball just short.
France had the Argentina scrum under constant pressure, winning two scrum penalties in the first half and using its scrum as the platform for its second try in the 45th.
The French won a penalty advantage at a scrum, and when play continued Frisch ran off a short pass from hooker Gaetan Barlot to score.
France extended its lead to 20-3 with another Hastoy penalty.
Argentina struck back four minutes later with a try to captain Julian Montoya, sweeping around the front of an attacking lineout. Matera passed to Montoya, who hurdled the last defender.
Attissogbe had a solid debut which was capped by a try in the 66th. He chopped infield off a pass from Hastoy and barged through three tacklers to score.
Melvyn Jaminet kicked a long-range penalty to make France’s lead 20 points at 28-8. But Argentina scored its second try through replacement Matias Orlando when Jaminet failed to contain a kick through.
They play a second test in Velez next weekend.
Newshttps://https://ift.tt/GJly1Lf edge Ireland in battle of rugby’s top two, raw French side surprise Pumas
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