The Blitzboks were well on their way to beating second-ranked Ireland and led 21-07 early in the second half before Ireland scored three tries during the final five minutes to snatch a 26-21 win.
Great feet by Tiaan Pretorius gave him to opportunity to open the scoring for the Blitzboks to lead 07-00 after two minutes of play. Ireland attacked from the kick-off, however, brilliant defence by the Blitzboks kept Ireland from scoring until Terry Kennedy scored the equaliser with one minute of play to go in the first half. Tristan Leyds beat several defenders almost from the kickoff to lead 14-07 at the halftime break.
Great hands by Tristan Leyds set Quewin Nortje away to score a long-distance try to extend the Blitzboks' lead to 21-07. From the kickoff, Zac Ward burst through several tackles to score an 85-meter try after two minutes of play in the second half.
Four minutes later Gavin Mullin scored Ireland's third try to reduce the Blitzboks' lead to 21-19. Ireland continued their attack and snatched the winning with a try by Gavin Mullen three minutes after time was already up to secure a 26-21 win
Scorers:
Blitzboks: Tries: Tiaan Pretorius, Tristan Leyds, Quewin Nortje. Conversions: Tristan Leyds (2), Selvin Davids.
Ireland: Tries: Terry Kennedy, Zac Ward, Gavin Mullin (2). Conversions: Billy Dardis, Hugo Lennox (2).
Teams:
Blitzboks: Quewin Nortje, Tristan Leyds, Selvyn Davids, Tiaan Pretorius, Christie Grobbelaar, Impi Visser, Justin Geduld. Replacements: Shaun Williams, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Kat Letebele, Dylan Sage, Rocko Specman.
Ireland: Niall Comerford, Terry Kennedy, Hugo Keenan, Aaron O'Sullivan, Billy Dardis, Harry Mcnulty, Jordan Conroy. Replacements: Andrew Smith, Hugo Lennox, Zac Ward, Gavin Mullin, Sean Cribbin.