Ireland centre Garry Ringrose said it was a "unique experience" to be reduced to 12 men for a period in the loss to South Africa and admitted he may have gotten a little too animated in the row that followed Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's tackle on Tommy O'Brien.
2025 finished on a bum note for the hosts, who failed in their bid for three Six Nations titles on the trot at the start of the season and ended the year with two losses in their autumn campaign, suffering defeats against both New Zealand and the Springboks.
Saturday's loss to the world champions - Ireland's first home defeat to the Springboks since 2012 - was especially chaotic, with referee Matthew Carley dispensing a whopping five yellow cards to Irish players, the first of which was upgraded to a red following a TMO review of James Ryan's high clear-out of Malcolm Marx.
The flow of yellow cards in the lead-up to half-time meant that Ireland were, remarkably, briefly reduced to 12 men for a short period after Porter was the fourth Irish player to be shown a card.
"I mean, you sometimes do it in training, where you practice when you have a man or two down. But it was a unique enough experience to be three men down at one stage," Ringrose told RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport on a day it was confirmed the RDS will be renamed the Laya Arena after the stadium’s redevelopment is finished next year.
"It's an experience in the sense of having to deal with a bit of adversity, having to problem solve out on the pitch. In terms of taking positives, it was a good experience to go through, albeit painful.
"I think everyone kind of rose to the challenge and it galvanised us a bit to work as hard as we possibly could for each other to give us a chance towards the back end of the game - or even keep pushing on regardless.
"It was a unique experience and that's why I'm kind of glad to have gone through it - or part of me anyway, is glad to have gone through it."
The home crowd were aggrieved in the early stage at the leniency shown to South Africa's out-half Feinberg-Mngomezulu after his no-arms tackle on O'Brien after six minutes, a leniency that was swiftly abandoned thereafter.
The incident triggered a flashpoint in which Ringrose was the chief protagonist, the Leinster centre furious at the head-shot on his team-mate and starting a shoving match with Feinberg-Mngomezulu into which several players were drawn.
"I probably got a little bit animated," says Ringrose. "It didn't help things. I probably should have checked on Tommy to make sure he was okay. That should have been my first port of call."
A scuffle breaks out after Feinberg-Mngomezulu's tackle on Tommy O'Brien. The Springbok fortunate to escape further sanction there.
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While the South African scrum dominance and the ill-discipline that arose from that were the main talking points in the aftermath of the loss, Ringrose points to the rule changes around contested kicks as being the biggest change in the game in the past 12 months.
World Rugby has sought to create more contested kicks in the air by clamping down on teams obstructing - or 'escorting' - opposition runners. Part of the motivation is to produce more dropped catches and thus more broken-field play in midfield.
James Lowe noted last week that Ireland had brought Brian Fenton into camp last February to offer insights into the new catching rules as well as dealing with broken ball.
"Probably the one big change in the last year or so is the contest for kicks in the air. You used to pretty much be able to block, so the catcher could get a clean catch in the air.
"But now you can't do that at all. So, there's a lot more kick contests, which leads to a lot more breaking balls. So, AFL players, Gaelic footballers will benefit.
"Amongst the back three players in Ireland, it's something they work on loads. I think some of the coaches have been speaking to Gaelic football coaches and players. Brian Fenton was in, talking about how he goes up for contests. One of the best to do it.
"Some lads spoke to AFL coaches and players as well. They're constantly trying to evolve and learn more and get better but it's a huge part of the game now."
Surprisingly, the two players jockeying for the out-half position were among those to be sin-binned, providing photographers with a useful shot of the pair sitting together on the sideline.
Prendergast, whose performance in the win over Australia divided opinion, was in position of the 10 jersey, with Crowley introduced at full-back late in the first half. The debate has naturally broken down on provincial lines, like previous out-half battles in decades past.
"I think they both are unbelievably mentally strong. They both care deeply about the team winning and performing well and what is amazing and impressive about both of them is that there's no egos. They both get on great, they're both contributing to meetings.
"They're two unbelievably impressive, unbelievably talented players and I think either of them could play in an Irish shirt and Ireland will win with them there.
"And then you've Ciarán Frawley as well, who was ready over the last couple of games too. We know his quality as well with what we saw at the end of the South Africa game there over last summer.
"So, we're blessed with those three and other lads as well to be able to step up and do it."
