Irish rugby Twitter has gone into meltdown as a last-gasp Ciaran Frawley drop goal helped Andy Farrell’s side beat back-to-back World Cup champions South Africa 25-24 in Durban.
James Lowe’s disallowed try three-quarters of the way through the game proved the pivotal moment of the first Test as Ireland lost 27-20 last weekend in Pretoria.
CIARAN FRAWLEY WITH A LAST-GASP WINNER 😯
Ireland have BEATEN the world champions South Africa 🤩🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/ZIQZWvv5T0— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 13, 2024
The Leinster man kicked a monster score just 10 minutes earlier to help Farrell's side reduce the gap against the home side after a try from Munster man Conor Murray help keep Ireland in the game as the Springboks were dependent on the boot of kicker Handre Pollard who scored all 24 of the World champions points today.
WOW WHAT A KICK!🤯
Ciaran Frawley with a BEAUTY to keep Ireland's comeback hopes alive! 👏 pic.twitter.com/uybphNmo7S— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 13, 2024
The best Ciaran Frawley tweets
Frawley is getting praise all over the place, with former African kicker Joel Stransky telling the Irish man he's just kicked one of the greatest drop-goals in rugby history on Supersport. Balls off steel definitely come to mind after such a pressure kick.
Bravo frawls you ballsy rouge 🍒🔥
— Simon Zebo (@SimonZebo) July 13, 2024
#RSAvsIRE pic.twitter.com/SDt9rqdz4z
— Bernard Jackman (@bernardjackman) July 13, 2024
Great composure and balls of steel.. get it up you Rassie 👏🏻🇮🇪👏🏻 https://t.co/mvzV41x4li
— Glenn Whelan (@Glenn6Whelo) July 13, 2024
Even the Taoiseach Simon Harris was getting involved with his pride for the historic win even the possibility of scoring two drop goals from such distances makes the feat even more special.
Edge of the seat stuff there from Ireland to the last second. Take a bow Ciaran Frawley. What a drop goal!
Ireland 25 - South Africa 24! pic.twitter.com/LLVl6oujTe— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) July 13, 2024
Ciaran Frawley rn#RSAvIRE pic.twitter.com/xus0wobM4G
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) July 13, 2024
I loved that. haha fucking outstanding.
You have to admire that test match. Two brilliant moments from Frawley at the end.
Hats off to him.
Zillion to one shot and he nails it.— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) July 13, 2024
The 29th of November is open. Will we get a part three between the sides to settle the score as the test finishes one-all, or do we have to wait for another few years for a rematch? Well, you won't hear many people complaining about seeing the two best sides battling it out on the battlefield of international test rugby.
However it was a perfect way to end a long season and underline that they are going to remain a force in world rugby for several years to come so the future of Irish rugby is looking very bright and with the under-20's going well we can live in hope to finally bring home the World Cup.
Owen Nkumane and Nick Mallett channeling how everyone is feeling after that clash 🤝#RSAvIRE pic.twitter.com/ELLCBW1x5e
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 13, 2024