The Springboks showed the necessary fight and urgency that was largely missing up to now to pull off a 19-13 victory over Ireland in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Ireland gave it everything they’ve got, and launched two late multi-phase attacks that nearly saw them clinch a first ever series win on South African soil.
But courageous scrumhalf Faf de Klerk shot out of the defence two metres from his own tryline and tackled Irish wing Keith Earls ball-and-all after the hooted had sounded, and the Boks rucked over to win the decisive penalty.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium crowd went berserk, and Bok coach Allister Coetzee hugged assistant Mzwandile Stick as the South Africans won their first series under the new management despite a first-half yellow card to fullback Willie le Roux.
But there were some seriously nervy moments for the home side, particularly in the second half, as the Irish launched wave after wave of attack through an impressive offloading game that placed the Boks under enormous pressure.
The likes of wing Keith Earls, centres Stuart Olding and Luke Marshall, as well as flank CJ Stander punched holes in the Bok defence with ball-in-hand throughout the 80 minutes. But the South Africans improved and showed greater patience as the game went on to keep their defensive shape.
Le Roux, though, was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card in the 11th minute after taking out Irish fullback Tiernan O’Halloran in the air, but New Zealand referee Glen Jackson felt that it was only worth a yellow after consulting the TMO.
It was Marshall who opened the scoring after another excellent passage of play from Ireland when he slid through Elton Jantjies’ poor tackle, and flyhalf Paddy Jackson put the visitors 10-3 up after 23 minutes with his first penalty.
But after the Boks gave away a few unnecessary penalties and lost the ball in contact a few times, Coetzee’s pack displayed better physicality in the tight-loose, while props Tendai Mtawarira and Frans Malherbe were much more stable in the scrum and busier in general play.
And the South Africans started to get more front-foot ball than in the first two Tests, with Jantjies lining up a second penalty to reduce the deficit to 10-6 before halftime.
But the moment of the first half came from the Bok flyhalf on attack when Jantjies delivered a perfect cross-kick following a number of phases and found JP Pietersen, who showed superb skill to pluck the ball out of the air and run over to put South Africa into a 13-10 halftime lead.
It was all Ireland in the second half, though, as they ran the Boks ragged up and down the field. The loose trio of Francois Louw, Siya Kolisi, Warren Whiteley and later debutant Jaco Kriel had to work tirelessly on defence, with Louw winning a few breakdown penalties to relieve some of the pressure.
But when the Irish looked a sure bet to score in the right-hand corner, it was that man De Klerk who made his first massive save when he intercepted a long pass that was headed to an Irish player who would’ve walked over untouched.
Substitute props Steven Kitshoff – on debut – and Julian Redelinghuys also made an immediate impact when they powered through the Irish in their first scrum to set up Ruan Combrinck for a shot at goal from inside the Bok half, which the right wing slammed over to increase the lead to 16-10 with 20 minutes to go.
But when Irish reserve hooker Sean Cronin burst out of his own half into the Bok 22, the visitors put together 21 phases before they went off their feet five metres out. Then came De Klerk’s second piece of individual brilliance, and he was unlucky to miss out on the Man-of-the-Match award to Pietersen.
“Very happy. It was a tough series, but happy to get the win,” Bok captain Adriaan Strauss said in the post-match TV interview. “We grinded it out a bit, especially in those last couple of minutes, but the guys really defended and we are proud of that.
“Composure in Test-match rugby will always be important and we did the hard yards upfront. Decision-making is something we will still work on.”
Springboks – Try: JP Pietersen. Conversion: Elton Jantjies (1). Penalties: Jantjies (3), Ruan Combrinck (1).
Ireland – Try: Luke Marshall. Conversion: Paddy Jackson (1). Penalties: Jackson (2).