Ireland coach Joe Schmidt paid tribute to his players after a historic win in South Africa on Saturday, with the coaching staff also lauded for their planning and preparation.
“It’s pretty hard to put into words really. I thought it was an incredible collective effort,” Schmidt said after their 26-20 victory at Newlands marked Ireland’s first success against South Africa in the nation in eight attempts stretching back 56 years.
Ireland’s achievement was even more extraordinary as they played for an hour with 14 men after C.J. Stander was sent off and were down to 13 when Robbie Henshaw spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
Photo: AFP
“The nine minutes before halftime when we were down to 13 players, to just put them out in the corner, just to scramble and work as hard as the players did to keep them out,” Schmidt said. “There was almost a direct repeat at the end of the second half again. To their attacking left-hand corner, we managed to scramble across and three or four players turned up to avoid the try being scored.”
“For the players, I think they can be incredibly proud of the effort they put in,” he said.
ARGENTINA 30, ITALY 24
AP, SANTA FE, Argentina
Argentina beat Italy for a sixth straight time when they held on 30-24 in a one-off Test on Saturday.
The Pumas trailed only once, briefly in the second half, but had to withstand a strong finish by the first Italy side chosen by new coach Conor O’Shea, who rested regular captain Sergio Parisse.
Both sides scored two tries, with the difference made by Pumas flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez, who landed seven of his nine goal-kicks for 20 points, while Italy counterpart Carlo Canna made all five of his for 14 points.
Sanchez was the star of the show; his grubber-kick into the in-goal setting up the first try for winger Manuel Montero.
Italy flanker Simone Favaro’s break and Michele Campagnaro’s offload set up winger Leonardo Sarto’s score to trail by just a point.
In the second half, Sanchez split the defense 60m out, slipping three tackles, and fed winger Matias Moroni to score.
CANADA 22, JAPAN 26
AP, VANCOUVER
Fullback Kotaro Matsushima scored the clinching try for 14-man Japan to give the visitors a 26-22 win over Canada in a Test match on Saturday.
Hooker Aaron Carpenter scored the fourth Canadian try with a minute remaining, but strong defense by Japan helped secure the win.
Backrower Yoshida Hosada was sent off in the 54th minute, forcing Japan to play a man down for most of the second half.
Hooker Takeshi Kizu scored a first-half try for Japan, who led 13-12 at the break. Japan flyhalf Yu Tamura kicked four penalties and two conversions for 16 points.
Taylor Paris, Ray Barkwill and Jamie Cudmore scored the other Canada tries.
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