IRELAND coach Joe Schmidt has admitted his squad will need time to recover from the disappointment of losing the second Test to South Africa. The Irish will have another chance to win the three-match series when they play the Springboks again in Port Elizabeth this weekend, but much will depend on how they bounce back from their 32-26 defeat in Johannesburg two days ago.
Schmidt's team were 19-3 up and apparently cruising to a 2-0 win when their hosts, who had played so poorly they were subjected to boos by the crowd, produced a late rally. "It'll take us a couple of days, probably, to get over the anguish," Schmidt said.
"The players are certainly disappointed. Whenever you get the win and get the result, it's always a lot easier to bounce back even if it's a physically tiring match.
"We missed tackles and were unlucky at times, but the result was well and truly earned by the South African ball-carriers. They really did take it to us and we were not quite up the task and that is incredibly disappointing.
"We just missed penalties before and after half-time which could have kept our confidence levels up and maybe delivered a little bit more of a blow to the South Africans. But the way they came back - they were relatively irrepressible."
Robbie Henshaw, a vital player in Connacht's maiden PRO12 triumph last month, is a doubt for the decider after being taken off with a knee injury during his team's defeat. The centre, who will play for Leinster next season, was replaced by Ian Madigan.
England beat the Wallabies 23-7 in Melbourne on Saturday to win a series in Australia for the first time, but they will probably be without Jack Nowell and James Haskell for the final Test in Sydney. Haskell had to wear a moon boot after the game, while Nowell suffered a head knock, so will have to complete the concussion return-to-play protocols before being declared available for selection.
England captain Dylan Hartley has insisted that the entire squad will have to play their part if the team are to return home having whitewashed the Wallabies. the Northampton hooker knows well that motivating players for a dead rubber can be tough, especially at the end of a long and draining season, but he will tell his team-mates that there is still a lot to play for.
"The challenge within the group is to win 3-0," Hartley said after a result which took his team up to second in the World Rugby rankings. "If we are really serious about improving as a team and getting better every time we play, we have to go out there and train next week and win next week as well.
"It's the biggest challenge. We could easily park it and think about holidays and not really care about next week.
"The harsh reality of sport is that you are always judged on your next performance. We want to be the best in the world. We have climbed from eighth to second - which is an achievement - but there is still a long way to go."
While England have their series in the bag and Ireland are still in with a shout of winning theirs, Wales must try to avoid a 3-0 whitewash when they take on the All Blacks again at the weekend. The Welsh were outstanding at times in the first half in Wellington on SAturdya, as they had been in the first Test, but New Zealand again finished by far the stronger team to win 36-22.
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