Only time will tell how damaging Saturday’s 24-13 defeat to South Africa at a feverish Aviva Stadium will prove to be for this Irish team, and particularly for its scrum. But it could certainly have been much worse, and Andy Farrell maintained his team will take more positives from this astonishing game than seemed conceivable. The Irish head coach had been relatively critical of his side’s performances in losing to New Zealand and beating Japan. [ Ireland-South Africa game should be a watershed moment in rugby’s officiating crisisOpens in new window ]“He’s gutted,” said Farrell. Ireland conceded a penalty try, two yellow cards, six penalties and two more tries with scrum penalty advantages on Saturday.

Source: The Irish Times November 24, 2025 10:32 UTC