Ciaran Frawley drop goals help Ireland edge out South Africa 25-24 in Durban

South Africa 24-25 Ireland, Kings Park Stadium, Durban

Ciaran Frawley kicked two drop goals in the final 10 minutes as Ireland came from behind to edge out World Champions South Africa with a 25-24 margin in Durban to level the two-game series.

Andy Farrell will be relieved to see his side cross the line this time having suffered a 20-27 defeat in the first game in Pretoria.

Ireland had an early opportunity to open their account as Eben Etzebeth was penalised allowing Jack Crowley to kick a three-pointer. They further extended the lead by the 14th minute as Jamie Osborne fed Robbie Henshaw on the outside and he in turn sent an inside pass for Conor Murray to touchdown.

Crowley also kicked the conversion to make it 0-10 before South Africa won a scrum penalty which Handre Pollard converted to get the home side off the mark.

The lead came down to four points by the 35th minute as Pollard kicked his second penalty goal but Crowley restored the 10 point lead for Ireland heading into the break after Springboks infringed offside.

South Africa were the quickest to get off the block in the second half as Henshaw infringed at ruck and Pollard converted while Tadhg Furlong also left the field for a Head Injury Assessment.

The 47th minute saw Ireland lose Caelan Doris to yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Malcolm Marx as Pollard kicked his fourth penalty goal making it 12-16 and few minutes later it became a one point as Pollard slotted his fifth successful penalty kick after James Ryan was caught off side.

The gap between the two teams continued to remain at one point with Pollard and Crowley exchanging penalties before Ireland committed another infringement with this time Finlay Bealham being the guilty. Pollard's seventh successful kick meant South Africa went into lead of 21-19.

With 12 minutes left in the game, Pollard kicked another penalty goal his eighth from eight to make it 24-19 before Frawley kicked the two decisive drop goals in the 70th and 80th minutes to steer his team to a one point victory.

Team line up:

South Africa: W le Roux; C Kolbe; J Kriel, D de Allende; KL Arendse; H Pollard; F de Klerk; O Nche, B Mbonambi, F Malherbe; E Etzebeth, F Mostert; S Kolisi (c), P-S du Toit, K Smith.

Reserves: M Marx, G Steenekamp, V Koch, S Moerat, RG Snyman, M van Staden, G Williams, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Ireland: J Osborne; C Nash, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; J Crowley, C Murray; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Furlong, J McCarthy, J Ryan, T Beirne, J van der Flier, C Doris (c).

Reserves: R Herring, C Healy, F Bealham, R Baird, P O’Mahony, C Blade, C Frawley, S McCloskey.