Ireland’s James Ryan (left) makes an illegal clear-out on South Africa’s Malcolm Marx. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
When a team concede a whopping 18 penalties, and the majority stem from the scrum, the obvious thing to do is pin the disciplinary issues entirely on the faltering set-piece. Yet to do so in this instance would gloss over the fact that Ireland’s problems on Saturday night were caused by committing an array of offences.
South Africa’s brutal demolition of the Irish scrum was a sight to behold – the scars of which threaten to linger for a long time.