Head to Head: A look at the Springbok and Ireland midfield

The Springboks surprised us all with an expansive game that saw the World Champions attacking the wings and outside channels. There was much talk of the midfield battle, before the game and certainly after. Here are the stats and more on the midfield battle.

It was clear the Springboks changed things up with the most notable change seeing Jesse Kriel attack a lot more as a crash ball runner and freeing Damian de Allende to utilise his bullet pass to provide more width on attack. De Allende, known for his crash ball running made 12 passes on the day with Kriel making 12 carries to his 12's five. The closest the Springbok midfield has come to completing that many passes was against italy in November with Esterhuizen and de Allende completing 14 passes in a 21-63 win.

Ireland lost an attacker and gained a defender when Robbie Henshaw went off at half time. Henshaw was the only Irish midfielder to beat any defenders with a carry on the day. Garry Ringrose came on and sured up the defence with 100% success from his seven tackles.

The Springboks used their midfield to set the defence as they watched the likes of de Allende and Kriel run at them allowing the wider runners, the wings and often Kolisi and du Toit, to get into space and advance forcing a mismatch.

Handle life with a Kolisi-level “GQAAAAAAA” this week. Have an awesome one, baratuwa 💙 pic.twitter.com/iZUTfWasCX

— Motshidisi E. Mohono (@MotshidisiM) July 8, 2024