Ireland secured a monumental 25-24 victory over the Springboks in Durban, South Africa, courtesy of two late drop goals from replacement Ciaran Frawley.

Securing just its second victory on South African soil, Ireland ensured that the two-test series would end with one win for each team.

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Taking the early initiative, Ireland came out of the blocks quickly, while the Boks labored early, in stark contrast to the first meeting between the two sides.

Landing an early penalty, fly-half Jack Crowley settled any nerves that may have been present from his topsy-turvy run with the boot in Pretoria.

Now with a foothold in the contest, Ireland went to work, poking and prodding the Springbok defense with a series of searching inside passes. The efforts were rewarded in the 13th minute, as Crowley found fullback Jamie Osborne on his inside, who juggled the ball, before putting scrumhalf Conor Murray away for a second try in as many weeks.

Playing in just his second test, Osborne was impervious in the fullback shirt. He ruled the skies with authority and defused the Springboks' barrage of high balls. Nullifying this area of offence with relative ease, Osborne then punished the Boks as he returned the ball superbly both from the boot and in the carry.

On the other side of the whitewash, budding Springboks star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu recovered from a challenging first half. He exploded into action immediately in the second 40, splitting through the Irish defense with two big counterattacks. He immediately got his team on the front foot and began to flip the script of the contest.

Clearly inspired by their 22-year-old star, the Boks dominated possession and territory for the bulk of the contest and ran wreck shop at the ruck, disrupting any chance of Ireland getting flow into its attack.

Capitalizing on this advantage, World Cup hero Handre Pollard packed his kicking boots. He slotted eight from eight to put his team in front as time trickled down.

Now firmly on course for a tight victory, the Boks dropped their intensity just one iota, as Ireland gained some much-needed territory.

Camping themselves inside the Boks' half, the Irish cracked open the door, and Ciaran Frawley took full advantage. He slotted two long-range drop goals to sneak arguably the most impressive victory in the Andy Farrell era.

As the celebrations of Irish players, coaches and fans hit fever pitch, the impact of Frawley’s match-winning effort was palpable for a squad that has come up just short in the most intense of environments on a number of occasions recently. 

By taking the onus upon himself, Frawley firmly put himself in the shop window as the most logical option to wear the Leinster No. 10 shirt next season and as a genuine contender to Jack Crowley going forward.

For Ireland, the win will be a major confidence boost, as molding the squad over the coming seasons will be important ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. 

The Irish will look to shake their dreaded ‘chokers’ tag, which rightly, or wrongly, only will be removed when they enjoy success on the game’s biggest stage. Should they do so, then July 13 in Durban surely will be heralded as the moment they learned how to win the big ones.

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