Summary

  • South Africa 24-25 Ireland (FT)

  • Series split one win apiece

  • Ireland win just their second Test on South African soil

  • Conor Murray scores game's only try in 14th minute

  • Handre Pollard kicks eight penalties for South Africa

  • Ciaran Frawley's late drop goals see Ireland to victory after letting 10-point half-time lead slip

  1. 'South Africa will be twice as good'published at 15:46 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Farrell and Crowley in trainingImage source, Getty Images

    Speaking of Farrell, the Ireland boss was not happy with his side's performance last week, seeming particularly disappointed with their first-half efforts.

    And with Farrell expecting South Africa to be "twice as good", his players must improve dramatically if they're to leave Durban with a result.

    Farrell said: "I’ve no doubt South Africa are going to be twice as good this weekend so that’s why we need to move pretty quickly this week in terms of the honesty and where we're at.

    "But I do think if we get the performance that we’re after, we’re more than capable of winning."

  2. Can Farrell mark half-century with win?published at 15:42 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Oh how he'd love to make it 40 out of 50!

    OptaJonny graphicImage source, @OptaJonny
  3. Postpublished at 15:38 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Game faces on.

    Robbie Henshaw arrives at the gameImage source, Inpho
    Rassie Erasmus arrives while Andy Farrell speaks to the mediaImage source, Inpho
  4. 'Proper leadership'published at 15:35 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Farrell and O'MahonyImage source, Getty Images

    Andy Farrell says Peter O'Mahony has shown "proper leadership" by putting his unhappiness at being dropped to one side in order to help the team prepare for today's Test.

    "You don't expect those conversations to be easy and don't get me wrong, he's not accepting and he's not happy obviously, but he does the right thing for the team," said Farrell.

    "That's at the forefront of his mind constantly, and that's proper leadership. He understands that we want to have a look in this direction to see how it goes.

    "He's the captain of this tour and it shows the mark of the man how you lead after a bit of disappointment, how you carry on being yourself or not."

  5. Farrell's biggest call?published at 15:32 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16.00 BST)

    Jonathan Bradley
    BBC Sport NI

    After the first Test took such a physical toll on Ireland, it feels almost akin to a show of strength from their hosts that Rassie Erasmus was able to name an unchanged panel seven days on.

    While Andy Farrell was forced into three changes through injuries, of course it's the alteration that he has made by choice that gets all the attention.

    The Englishman isn't shy of making a big selection call - it's easily forgotten how Jamison Gibson-Park and Mack Hansen were viewed as left-field picks at the time, not to mention Jamie Osborne's debut last week - but to drop his captain Peter O'Mahony to the bench is arguably his biggest in almost five years on the job.

    His replacement as skipper, Caelan Doris, appeared to have a few strained conversations with referee Luke Pearce last week so that will be worth watching this afternoon.

    As, undoubtedly, will O'Mahony's impact from the bench.

    Peter O'MahonyImage source, Inpho
    Image caption,

    O'Mahony was named Ireland skipper earlier this year

  6. Postpublished at 15:30 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    It's a big day for this man as he leads Ireland out for only the second time.

    Caelan Doris' shirtImage source, Inpho
  7. SA unchanged; O'Mahony dropped by Irelandpublished at 15:26 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    While South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus had the luxury of selecting the same 23 players, his counterpart Andy Farrell has been forced to change Ireland's line-up.

    With Dan Sheehan and Craig Casey ruled out, Ronan Kelleher and Conor Murray were always going to be recalled, but the headline change in the pack is captain Peter O'Mahony's demotion to the bench.

    As a result, Tadhg Beirne shifts from the second row to flanker with James Ryan coming in to partner Joe McCarthy. Caelan Doris captains the side for the second time.

    South Africa: W le Roux; C Kolbe; J Kriel, D de Allende; KL Arendse; H Pollard; F de Klerk; O Nche, B Mbonambi, F Malherbe; E Etzebeth, F Mostert; S Kolisi (capt), PS du Toit, K Smith.

    Replacements: M Marx, G Steenekamp, V Koch, S Moerat, RG Snyman, M van Staden, G Williams, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

    Ireland: J Osborne; C Nash, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; J Crowley, C Murray; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; T Beirne, J Van der Flier, C Doris (capt).

    Replacements: R Herring, C Healy, F Bealham, R Baird, P O'Mahony, C Blade, C Frawley, S McCloskey.

  8. 'We don't tend to lose two on the bounce'published at 15:23 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Matt Gault
    BBC Sport NI

    Andy Farrell and Ronan KelleherImage source, Getty Images

    Earlier this week, before his return to Ireland's starting line-up was confirmed, Garry Ringrose offered an insight into the level of importance head coach Andy Farrell attaches to every game.

    The fit-again centre recalled Farrell saying "the biggest game in Irish rugby's history is always the next one".

    Grandiose, yes, but when put to Farrell during his team announcement news conference, the Englishman offered a compelling case as to why he would view Saturday's second Test against South Africa through that prism.

    “Because we are playing against the world number one at [their] home after we have lost a game, and we don't tend to lose two on the bounce," said Farrell.

    Read more here.

  9. Ireland 'hard on themselves' after losses - Ringrosepublished at 15:20 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Garry RingroseImage source, Inpho

    Ireland centre Garry Ringrose says the Six Nations winners have been "putting it all out there" in the aftermath of Saturday's defeat by South Africa.

    The world champions beat Ireland 27-20 in the series opener in Pretoria and Andy Farrell's side play the Springboks again on Saturday in Durban in their final game of the season.

    "When it doesn’t work out a lot of guys are quite hard on themselves, so it’s about being open and honest and transparent," said Ringrose.

    "That’s what the last few days have looked like.

    "It's not being hard or soft - it’s just dealing with the reality of the game. What can we do better? What looked good and what we can build on?"

  10. Postpublished at 15:17 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    The scene is set at King's Park in Durban.

    A programme and Ireland shirt on the pitch in DurbanImage source, Inpho
    A rugby ball on the pitch at DurbanImage source, Inpho
  11. Postpublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    And finally, it was Wales in action against Australia but Warren Gatland's side suffered a ninth successive international defeat as the Wallabies ran out 36-28 winners in Melbourne.

    Two tries from Filipo Daugunu, further scores from Jake Gordon and Allan Alaalatoa and 13 points from Noah Lolesio's boot helped Australia achieve a successful start to Joe Schmidt's era following the 25-16 win in Sydney last weekend.

    Wales responded with two tries from inspirational captain Dewi Lake, while wings Liam Williams and Rio Dyer also crossed.

    Will the world's top two sides keep the entertainment going?

    Wales AustraliaImage source, Getty Images
  12. Postpublished at 15:09 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Next up, England tried to make amends for last weekend's narrow defeat by the mighty All Blacks.

    However, replacement Beauden Barrett inspired a New Zealand fightback in their 24-17 win over England to claim the series 2-0 at Eden Park.

    The All Blacks trailed by four points before two-time world player of the year Barrett was introduced off the bench to set up Mark Tele'a's second try and break English resistance.

    England had threatened to become the first side to win at Eden Park in 30 years after excellent tries by Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman handed them a slender advantage at half-time.

    England and New Zealand players at full-timeImage source, Getty Images
  13. Mixed fortunespublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    The other home nations have been in action this weekend and it's been a mixed bag of results.

    Scotland were first in action and they defeated USA 42-10 in Washington DC.

    It was a big day for Duhan van der Merwe, who opened the scoring for Gregor Townsend's side with his 27th international try to equal Stuart Hogg's Scottish record.

    Duhan van der MerweImage source, Getty Images
  14. ‘I wasn’t prepared to come back without her'published at 15:01 British Summer Time 13 July

    Ireland gearing up for Paris Olympics

    Ashleigh OrchardImage source, Inpho

    When Ashleigh Orchard takes to the pitch at the Stade de France for Ireland’s opening game in the Olympic Rugby Sevens tournament against Great Britain, her number one supporter will be there to cheer her on.

    It’s not certain how much 11-month-old Arabella will understand about what is going on, but she will be watching her mum and her adopted ‘aunties’ compete for glory in Paris.

    If Arabella wasn’t part of the Irish team environment then her mum wouldn’t be at the Olympics, but a new initiative from the IRFU has allowed Orchard, 32, to fulfil a dream.

    When the sevens game was introduced to the Olympic programme for the 2016 Games in Rio, it offered an opportunity she never thought possible.

    “I was obsessed with the Olympics going back to 2004, but I ended up playing rugby so it was never an option," said Orchard.

    Read more here.

  15. What happened last week?published at 14:54 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    Irish and South African players shake hands at full-timeImage source, Inpho

    South Africa underlined their status as the best side in the game with victory over Ireland in Pretoria.

    The Test between the top two sides in the world rankings was edged by the World Champions who beat Ireland for a first time in eight years.

    Kurt-Lee Arendse had opened the scoring with a try after just three minutes for a Springbok side who notably injected plenty of width into their game throughout.

    Irish debutant Jamie Osborne responded with a score of his own before half-time and the game finished with a flurry of four tries in the final 15 minutes.

    The sixth time in the last seven meetings that these sides played out a one-score game, South Africa deserved their victory having led for virtually all of the contest.

  16. Here we gopublished at 14:48 British Summer Time 13 July

    South Africa v Ireland (16:00 BST)

    It's time for the big one as the back-to-back world champions take on the back-to-back Six Nations winners.

    Last week we were treated to a edgy and captivating first Test between the sides as the Springboks ran out 27-20 winners.

    Ireland will look to bounce back in Durban this afternoon and if this week is as good as last week, then we are in for a treat.

    You can follow all the action with our live text. Thanks for joining us!

    Handre Pollard, Caelan Doris, Cheslin Kolbe, James LoweImage source, Inpho