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Springboks clinch Ireland series

26th June, 2016
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Five-eighth Elton Jantjies kicked South Africa to a 19-13 win over Ireland in the third and final test, but it took some desperate defending to clinch the series on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

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The Springboks, who only had 30 per cent of the ball in the game, hung on through an anxious last 10 minutes as the visitors came with metres of a last-gasp try that would have handed them a historic victory.

Both sides scored a try, with Ireland going over first after 16 minutes when Luke Marshall crashed through the Springbok defence after a strong build up.

South Africa conjured up a clever try on the stroke of halftime as Jantjies kicked up into the left-hand corner for winger JP Pietersen to snatch the ball out of the air and cross over.

South Africa were again disjointed as a clever Irish side kept asking questions and the tourists went 10-3 ahead with 20 minutes gone.

Marshall’s first test try came as Ireland showed patience with ball in hand and put together several key phases to allow the centre to force a break in the home defence.

But the Boks went into a 13-10 halftime lead just before the break after a piece of improvisation from Jantjies found Pietersen with uncanny precision.

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A long-range penalty from winger Ruan Combrinck extended the lead on the hour and then Jantjies popped over another penalty to make it 19-10.

Paddy Jackson, who kicked eight points for Ireland, brought it back to a six-point game with 10 minutes to go, sparking a last furious burst from the Irish.

But tenacious home defending kept them away from the try line to hand South Africa an unconvincing series win.

“We grinded it out a bit, but it was good to get the win. It was a tough series. The forwards did all the hard work to play the platform today,” South Africa captain Adriaan Strauss said.

Ireland won a Test in South Africa for the first time when they won the opening encounter 26-20 at Newlands, but last weekend went down 32-26 at Ellis Park in the second test.

“We were just inches away, it speaks volumes of our boys. The fact that we were within six points in two Tests is a testimony to our players,” Ireland skipper Rory Best said.

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