Irish character in SA win 'what sport's about' - Farrell

Andy Farrell enjoyed victory in his 50th game in charge of Ireland

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says his side's 25-24 victory over South Africa in Durban on Saturday is "right up there" with the best of his tenure.

Ciaran Frawley's drop goal from over 40 metres won the Test with the last kick of the game and ensured a series split with the world champions.

Farrell had been disappointed with his side's performance in a first Test loss seven days before but was thrilled by the character shown in response during a brilliant first half.

But even after Ireland held a 10-point advantage at half time, the Springboks roared back to lead 24-19 with 11 minutes to go only for replacement fly-half Ciaran Frawley to kick the visitors to victory with a pair of drop goals.

“As far as drama and the pressure we put on ourselves to perform, it’s right up there because they’re a wonderful team, a magnificent team,” said Farrell.

“Last week was difficult for us, we said it as it was – we weren’t happy. We had to come out and perform when you have those conversations where you’re talking about character.

“It certainly wasn’t perfect, it was ridiculous at times. First half was brilliant but the second was ridiculous for all sorts of reasons. The character we showed, that’s what sport’s about really.”

Once again, this was a tense affair between two sides who have played out seven one-score games in their last eight meetings.

While the first Test saw Ireland look ragged early on before growing into the game, here they took control of things early with the highlight of their strong start Conor Murray's 14th minute try.

They would ship 12 unanswered points in the second half, however, to leave them in need of Frawley's late heroics.

Farrell called his side's first half "as good as it gets" but added they made enough mistakes to "lose three games" after the turn.

“It was the sublime to the ridiculous, wasn’t it?" he said.

“It was a complete role reversal of last week. First-half performance not too great last week, this week I thought it was outstanding, as good as it gets.

“But second half last week was good. This week we’ve made enough mistakes to lose three games in that second half.

"But you just know when you’re hanging in there that there’s always going to be a chance with this team because of the guts, the bravery, they’ve got and they showed that in spades.”

'I thought it was immense'

Frawley was earning his sixth cap when called upon in Durban

Farrell was especially impressed by the "composure" shown by Frawley to nail not just the winning drop-goal but also the kick that preceded it to bring Ireland back within two.

The 26-year-old came on for Jack Crowley with 20 minutes to go and kicked a ball out on the full early in his cameo, while he missed a drop goal attempt to win the game for Leinster in the Champions Cup final against Toulouse in May.

Farrell added: "He had the guts in the first place to do the first drop goal and I thought it was immense how he had the courage to take it early, so fair play to him.”