Ireland captain Caelan Doris is confident the adversity experienced in Saturday’s ill-disciplined 24-13 defeat to South Africa will prove beneficial for his side’s development.
The hosts’ quest to end the autumn with a statement win over the world champions was undermined by a 20-minute red card for lock James Ryan and four players being sent to the sin bin.
Trailing 19-7 at the end of a bizarre first half, Ireland began the second period with just 12 men before somehow outscoring the dominant Springboks during a spirited second-half showing.
“It was pretty unique; chaotic is the word that sums it up, definitely,” said Doris.
“I’m proud of the fight, the courage, the character that we showed at times.
“Obviously, you want that to transfer into points and results, but I do think it’s going to stand to us going forward, definitely.”
Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu escaped a card for a high hit on Tommy O’Brien in the opening stages of a bruising Test match at the Aviva Stadium.
The contentious incident came after South Africa’s coaching staff complained in the build-up of unfair treatment from match officials following red-card incidents in wins over France and Italy earlier this month.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell appeared frustrated at the lack of punishment for Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Asked whether he felt comments from the Springboks’ camp had influenced English referee Matthew Carley, Farrell said: “Well, we brought it up with the referees before the game and they said that would never be a factor because this is a separate game.
“I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s fortune fuelled a sense of injustice among a fired-up capacity crowd, which was heightened when lock Ryan was deservedly dismissed for an illegal clearout on Malcolm Marx, resulting in a Tadhg Beirne try being disallowed.
Despite falling 12-0 behind and being down to 13 men following a yellow card for Sam Prendergast, Ireland found a way back into the contest through Dan Sheehan’s converted score.
However, that hard work was undone in the closing minutes of the opening period, with Jack Crowley and Andrew Porter joining Prendergast in the bin, either side of South Africa being awarded a penalty try.
“You can look at all sorts of different situations within the game and you can say that that was the turning point,” replied Farrell when asked about the end of the first half.
“A few stupid errors from ourselves playing the ball through the ruck, and I think we’d three offside penalties.
“They’re the manageable ones that you don’t give a team like that access, but we did.”
Replacement prop Paddy McCarthy became the fifth Ireland player to receive a card when he was sin-binned in the second half.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu claimed South Africa’s fourth try, adding to earlier efforts from Damian Willemse and Cobus Reinach, while Prendergast slotted two penalties in reply.
Ireland, who travel to defending champions France in the opening match of the 2026 Six Nations on February 5, end November with two wins from four following an opening defeat to New Zealand and victories over Japan and Australia.