Irish Rugby returned home yesterday when Ireland kicked off their Autumn International series at the newly built Aviva Stadium. The match also recognised Ronan O’Gara’s contribution to the sport as he made his 100th appearance for Ireland, and Gordon D’Arcy claimed his 50th cap for his country. Unfortunately, the result was not to be celebrated as Ireland fell to a 23-21 defeat to World Cup champions, South Africa.
To mark the special occasion of the first international match at the Aviva, South Africa waived the unique rugby tradition where, if there is a clash of colours, the visiting team wears its home jersey. This allowed the Ireland team to wear their famous green jersey for the fixture.
Ireland seemed nervous as the game got underway, and it took South Africa just three minutes to unsettle those nerves even further when Morné Steyn dropped back for a drop at goal. His kick was short of the posts but Ireland had been given a glance at the threat the fly-half posed.
Three minutes later and Ireland were caught offside allowing Steyn to opt for the posts and rectify his earlier miss. His kick was on target . . .
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