Andy Farrell said "stupid errors" cost his side in Saturday's 24-13 defeat to South Africa, but the Irish head coach insisted his main emotion was pride despite the humbling defeat to the world champions.
Ireland were left battered and bruised following a bizarre game at Aviva Stadium, which saw James Ryan shown a 20-minute red card, and four other Irish players sin-binned, while they briefly played the game with 12 just players.
Two of those yellows – for Jack Crowley and Andrew Porter – came in the final minutes before half time, and ultimately allowed the visitors to extend their lead to 19-10.
And Farrell looked back on that period with real frustration.
"You can look at all sorts of different situations, as well, within the game and you can say that that was the turning point," he said.
"A few stupid errors from ourselves playing the ball through the ruck, and I think with three offside penalties. They're the manageable ones that you don't give a team like that access, but we did.
Andy Farrell has spoken of the pride in defeat after Ireland's loss to South Africa. pic.twitter.com/Dt5Qj33lmW
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"In general, as well, I thought we just lost our composure a little bit. Certainly, at the end, though, as far as our shape is concerned.
"Some of the stuff that we did really well last week didn't really transfer this week. Our kicking game was a bit long and a bit off at times.
"Our high-ball stuff was way better last week and our conversion in the 22 was way better, obviously, last week."
While the Ireland coach was critical of his side in that period before the break, he stressed his pride in the way they stayed in the fight.
And he took a major exception to one reporter in the post-match press conference, who said the flurry of cards and scrum penalties in the opening half was "borderline shambolic".
"I’d say chaotic," Farrell replied. "I won't repeat your word because I think you're wrong. I haven't seen a game like that ever, and you think you've seen it all [but] I haven't seen a game like that ever.
"Chaotic."
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Ireland captain Caelan Doris has been reacting to their defeat to South Africa in a game dominated by cards. pic.twitter.com/nzJ6pclLkm
"I suppose, first and foremost, you look at yourself and why things have happened. So, we'll do that, and make sure that we learn the lessons from that.
"But my overriding thought of the game is that I'm unbelievably proud, so for you to start a conversation off like that doesn't sit well.
"If you can't learn from that, then you're in the wrong place, really.
"Going down to 12 men, how the lads came out and showed the bottle for the country, certainly in that first 10 minutes of that second half, it was absolutely amazing.
"And I think you could see with the crowd, the effort that they put in, that the crowd recognised that and supported them.
"To be able to win a second-half 6-5 under those type of circumstances, I know it doesn't tell a full story of the second-half, but it's actually amazing, really, that that happened, or that occurred.
"The lessons to learn are, when you fight so hard to give yourself a chance, and you're at 72 minutes, trying to overplay probably in your own 22, you've still got time on the clock to put ourselves back in the right field positions.
"We overplayed a little bit and wasted a little bit of time, but then we found a way, and with four minutes to go, we had a glaring chance to score a try under the post, and [if] we scored that with four minutes to go, who knows what could have happened with a little bit of momentum, but we couldn't do that, so all credit has to go to South Africa."
A scuffle breaks out after Feinberg-Mngomezulu's tackle on Tommy O'Brien. The Springbok fortunate to escape further sanction there.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 22, 2025
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Farrell had no complaints over the decision to upgrade Ryan’s yellow to a red after his high clearout on Malcolm Marx, but he did appear frustrated at the lack of further punishment for South African out-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu after his shoulder charge on Tommy O’Brien early in the game.
The decision not to award a card for the challenge came in the shadow of the South African coaching staff claiming their team have been unfairly treated by World Rugby, and Farrell was asked whether he thought that messaging has been a factor this evening.
"Well, we brought it up with the referees before the game and they said that would never be a factor, obviously, because this is a separate game.
"I'll let you be the judge of that."
