Caelan Doris was reflecting on Ireland’s 27-20 loss to the Springboks.
Ireland backrower Caelan Doris says that frustration is the overriding feeling after their defeat to South Africa on Saturday evening.
Doris was one of Ireland’s outstanding players in Pretoria but Andry Farrell’s men failed to produce the collective standards they are used to, allowing the hosts to run out as 27-20 winners.
“I think that’s why it’s frustrating because we feel we’re definitely good enough to get a win away from home in a pretty hostile environment,” explained the Leinster number eight to RTÉ Sport.
“We relish that challenge and it’s definitely frustrating not coming out on top but the belief is still there and we’re going to rock into the week and not dwell on the loss.”
Ireland play the second of two tests against South Africa next weekend in Durban but will do well to recharge their batteries after such an abrasive contest.
The mental side of their recovery will be even more important however, and Doris knows it:
“(There’s) a good bit of frustration about how we went in the first half.”
“Some of our discipline – they miss two or three shots at goal so we were lucky with that to be able to hang in, one score in the game.
“Definitely a lot of frustration but it’s a big week coming up so we can’t dwell on it too much.
“We have to look forward and try to fix some of the things that didn’t go right for us today and try to get a win next week.”
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