'Champions get up when they can't': Matt Williams weighs in on Ireland's win over Boks

Two years after coming away with a 2-1 series victory in New Zealand over the All Blacks, Ireland claimed a historic drawn series 1-all with the Springboks in South Africa.

The 25-24 win in Durban in the second Test will go down as one of the great wins in Irish rugby history, with Ciaran Frawley becoming a folk hero with two long-range drop goals in the final 10 minutes snatching the win.

Australian coach and Irish TV pundit Matt Williams weighed in on the result and what it meant for Irish rugby, with the performance showing the true character of a side that has been written off many times.

“It’s hard to compare with the past, but obviously when you win a three Test series in New Zealand, you’ve got to defend well and be physical,” he told the Virgin Media Sport podcast.

“That defensive effort to keep South Africa to zero tries, it was a brilliant, brilliant effort.

“There’s an old saying, champions get up when they can’t. There were 101 reasons before the game, during the game, for Ireland to lose that game.

“We can pick it apart with moments here and there, but ultimately that comes down to character.”

Williams revealed he doubted Ireland’s ability to bounce back from the first Test loss and picked South Africa to win.

But Andy Farrell’s “courageous” Ireland team defied the odds after a season of provincial heartbreak to finish a mammoth season on a high.

“I thought South Africa would win the game because Ireland were tired, but these guys have proved us wrong in the past. And again, how wonderful to be proven wrong but such a courageous bunch of players who did something phenomenal,” he said.

“At the end of a 13-month season, to lose the first Test, to have the heartbreak at the provinces they’ve had, the heartbreak of the World Cup, to be beaten at Twickenham, to lose semi-finals of the URC, Leinster lose the final of the Champions Cup.

“To lose the first Test at altitude, and then to come and find a way, just find a way somehow, and they did it.

“That to me is why we can talk about the individuals involved, and no doubt the drop goals were extraordinary, but there were so many other things in that game that were just ‘we will not yield, we will not quit, we will not say the world champions are better than us, we will fight’, and thought it was absolutely inspiring.”