Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has insisted his team\u2019s card-troubled performance in their 13-24 Autumn Nations Series loss to the Springboks wasn\u2019t shambolic, adding that it was amazing to \u2018win\u2019 the second half 6-5.<\/p>\n
The Irish were shown four yellow cards \u2013 with one upgraded to a 20-minute red \u2013 during a first half that ended with Farrell\u2019s side defending with 12 players against 15.<\/p>\n
It was too much of an ask<\/a>, as the half finished with referee Matthew Carley running in under the posts to award a penalty try after yet another scrum infringement.<\/p>\n The second half began with South Africa<\/a> continuing to benefit from the numerical advantage as they ran in their fourth try before the match was eventually restored to a 15 versus 15 contest.<\/p>\n Scrum hell<\/p>\n But there was still further scrum hell for Ireland<\/a> as another prop was sin-binned before a late rally saw them hammering away in the opposition 22 without scoring to cut the 11-point margin to a one-score finale.<\/p>\n Asked if the first half \u201clooked like something borderline shambolic in terms of the yellow cards, everything was going wrong, nothing was going right, is it harsh to say shambolic?\u201d, Farrell replied: \u201cI\u2019d say chaotic. Yeah, I won\u2019t repeat your word because I think you\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen a game like that ever. You think you have seen it all, and I haven\u2019t seen a game like that ever. But I suppose first and foremost, you look at yourself and why things have happened, so we will do that and make sure we learn the lessons from that. But my overriding thought of the game is that I am unbelievably proud, so for you to start the conversation off like that, it doesn\u2019t sit well.\u201d<\/p>\n Invited to say if the experience of the card trouble would stand to Ireland in the long run, the head coach replied: \u201cIf you can\u2019t learn from that, then you are in the wrong place really. For all sorts of reasons, I thought going down to 12 men, how the lads came out and showed their bottle for their country, certainly in the first 10 minutes of that second half, it was absolutely amazing.<\/p>\n Ireland player ratings: Caelan Doris the \u2018soldier in the trenches\u2019 on a \u2018dreadful day\u2019 against the Springboks after James Ryan\u2019s \u2018thuggery\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou could see with the effort they put in that the crowd recognised and supported that. To be able to win a second half 6-5 under those sort of circumstances is, I know it doesn\u2019t tell a full story of the second half, but it was actually amazing really that that happened, that that occurred.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the lessons to learn are when you fight so hard to give yourself a chance, you know you are at 72 minutes trying to overplay probably in your own 22, you have still got time on the clock to put ourselves back in the right field positions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe overplayed a little bit and wasted a little bit of time. But then we find a way and with four minutes to go, we had a glaring chance to score under the posts. If we score that with four minutes to go, who knows what could have happened with a little bit of momentum but we couldn\u2019t do that, so all credit has to go to South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n What was the experience of coping with the cards like? \u201cYou are just trying to get a bit of order to people who are playing in different positions, positions that actually don\u2019t exist because of a 12-man nature.<\/p>\n Springboks player ratings: Malcolm Marx spearheads \u2018sheer massacre\u2019 as Ireland choked into submission<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPeople were covering two-stroke-three positions, different positions in attack and different positions in defence, so you are just trying to get a bit of order and let the lads understand who is coming back at what time and how we need to manage the game in that period. And amongst all that, I thought they did outstandingly well.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Ireland\u2019s card problems began with the James Ryan yellow that was soon upgraded to a 20-minute red, a decision that had the double whammy blow of having a try scored by Tadhg Beirne ruled out, there was a controversial tackle from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu on Tommy O\u2019Brien that the referee deemed only worthy of a penalty.<\/p>\n Asked if it should have been a yellow card, Farrell replied: \u201cYou are asking the question because you thought so as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland v Springboks: Five takeaways as South Africa show why they are \u2018clear of the rest\u2019 but officials get it \u2018horrifically wrong\u2019 yet again<\/a><\/p>\n It was at the start of the week when South Africa questioned whether they were being treated unfairly by the referees. The accusation came after they had suffered permanent red cards in successive matches, with Lood de Jager sent off against France and Franco Mostert banished versus Italy.<\/p>\n The De Jager card stuck, and he was suspended, but the Mostert card was overturned. Following South Africa\u2019s suggestion that they weren\u2019t getting the rub of the green, the Irish felt compelled to bring this up as a pre-game topic with the officials.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we brought it up with the referees before the game and they said that that would never be a factor because this is a separate game \u2013 and I\u2019ll let you be the judge of that,\u201d said Farrell when asked if he thought Ireland\u2019s card trouble was a reaction to what the South Africans had said earlier in the week.<\/p>\n World Rugby Awards: Malcolm Marx beats fellow Springboks to top gong as All Blacks continue dominance<\/a><\/p>\n On the scrum, which saw two Irish props yellow carded and a penalty try award, Farrell explained: \u201cYou can talk about all sorts of stuff that you have talked to the referees beforehand and during the week and say those are the similar type of pictures etc, but you have got to look at yourself first.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to not give the referee the access to see you in whatever type of picture that he obviously saw us in and he saw a dominant scrum. Whether there is illegalities within all that we have got to see past that and better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dwelling on the match overall, Farrell added: \u201cYou can look at all sorts of different situations within the game and you can say that that was the turning point, the yellow card that went to red was a try that we had scored and had called back.<\/p>\n Rassie Erasmus: \ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d\ud83d\udc4d<\/p>\n Watch every #QuilterNS<\/a> match live on @rugbyontnt<\/a> and @discoveryplus<\/a> #QuilterNS<\/a> #QCNS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YU47UhPUqn<\/a><\/p>\n