'We're history makers': Reaction as Ireland conclude WXV with South Africa win

Scott Bemand’s Ireland have become the first Irish side to win back-to-back Tests on South African soil after beating the Springbok Women 38-17 at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.

It’s safe to say they ended their WXV Global Series campaign on a high with their all-time leading try-scorer Béibhinn Parsons scoring a hat-trick, Aoife Dalton dotting down twice, captain Erin King crossing the whitewash early on and Dannah O’Brien slotting four out of six conversions to complete a historic two-match Test series in South Africa.

Unam Tose, captain Sizophila Solontsi and Vainah Ubisi all crossed in a very physical display by the hosts but were unable to overcome Ireland despite them taking the lead 20 minutes to go.

The Springbok Women lost 50-19 to Wales in their opening fixture but beat Italy 41-29 and Spain 20-0 and despite the two losses on the bounce to Ireland, they have moved up to ninth place overall in the World Rugby rankings.

Speaking after the final whistle, South Africa captain Sizophila Solontsi said, “That one hurts.”

The 34-year-old flanker added, “I’m disappointed. We had some really great moments, and I’d like to believe we had it, but it was just us versus us.

“We just lost it ourselves and it’s very disappointing, especially being the last game of the season.

“Obviously every year we go in with a goal and that goal is achieved, even though today’s goal wasn’t.

“Ninth is our highest world ranking and that just shows the sponsors that are helping us build and everyone behind the scenes, we’d like to thank for that.

“Hopefully we’ll go again next season and keep going up.”

Ireland made history as they embarked on the women’s team’s first ever tour of the country and claimed a 2-0 Test series over South Africa, following their 40-27 victory last weekend and 38-17 win today.

Ireland captain Erin King couldn’t have been prouder of her side and after the match, she said, “I’m delighted with that. The South Africans really brought it to us, and we really had to stick to our game plan and stick to our processes.

She continued, “I’m unbelievably proud of the girls.

“We spoke about being the first Irish team to come to South Africa and win a Test series and we’ve done it, so I’d say we’re history makers now!

“It was really tough out there. They just stuck to their guns, we had each other’s backs, and we had an unbelievable time.

“South Africa is a beautiful place and we’ve made some unforgettable memories.

“We spoke about how special it is to get the opportunity to go on tour in such a beautiful place and how rare it is.

“You don’t get many opportunities to do it, so we had a really good time on pitch and off pitch.

“We knew on pitch there was a job to do, and we stuck to that.

“I think we kept building throughout the whole Global Series, and we really showed today what we’re capable of, especially when the pressure is on.”