rugby

Rónan Kelleher and Ireland endure nightmare start, before bold call, in Paris

Published 20:46 23 Sept 2023 BST

Home rugby

It is not all on one man, but you really have to feel for him. It was a tough watch.

Ronan Kelleher played his first game of the season, last weekend, against Tonga so a game against reigning world champions, South Africa was always going to be a huge step up. The Leinster hooker started the game off brilliant with a thumping tackle on Damien Willemse that had the Irish fans all out of their seat. It forced a Springbok error but then came the wobbles. Ireland lost that lineout and four more in a shaky first half, and also had scrummaging issues - being penalised after their first two engagements. While Kelleher was all industry in the loose - sticking 10 tackles and hitting plenty of rucks - his name was trending across social media, for good and bad reasons. Making an early statement https://twitter.com/loosest_the/status/1705659788569255968 https://twitter.com/nolearyASM/status/1705659620843303083 https://twitter.com/IamTom1975/status/1705659366467113198 The lineout started to wobble https://twitter.com/HiraethPolitics/status/1705661972866310193 https://twitter.com/thefendifella/status/1705661942789029929 https://twitter.com/Andywilson2904/status/1705661665088340350

Brave Ronan Kelleher call pays off

Near the end of the first half, Ronan Kelleher was backed with a lineout throw from five metres out. Most teams would have taken the points on offer, from the tee, but they backed Kelleher. On this occasion, his throw was accurate, and it was claimed. Ireland set up camp on the Springbok tryline and they ended up scoring through Mack Hansen. https://twitter.com/hicksimon/status/1705668281334394939 It was indeed a brave call and the pressure on Ronan Kelleher was immense. His team trusted him and he came up with a big-time throw when it mattered.