- Author, Matt Gault
- Role, BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist
As he entered a raucous ‘Shark Tank’ in Durban, joining an Ireland side reeling from the thunderous hits and relentless pressure of a resurgent South Africa, Ciaran Frawley was not prepared to relive past traumas.
Having been teed up by Jamison Gibson-Park, Frawley uncorked a kick from distance with just seconds remaining, his agony growing as he watched it drift to the left.
As Toulouse celebrated, Frawley looked as crestfallen as any player in blue having also missed a kick that would have given Leinster renewed hope in extra-time.
Such a high-profile and costly miss would be enough for a lot of players to leave one of rugby’s dying arts in their locker.
But not Frawley. Having replaced Jack Crowley with 20 minutes remaining in yet another brutal edition of the heavyweight rugby rivalry that keeps on giving, Frawley decided he was owed a headline or two.
With an error-strewn Ireland on the ropes and staring down the barrel at back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2021, Frawley snatched a famous Irish triumph with not one but two masterful swings of his right boot.
Image source, Getty Images
The first one arrived with just over 10 minutes left on the clock. With South Africa leading 24-19, having forced a total shift in momentum following an impressive first half from the tourists, Frawley received a pass from replacement scrum-half Caolin Blade.
Glancing at the posts and adjusting the ball in his hands, Frawley drilled a heat-seeker between the sticks to drag Ireland back to within two.
With Ireland surviving the next 10 minutes, Blade again flung the ball to Frawley. As time ticked into the red, another missile from the number 22’s right boot sailed between the posts.
Having already executed a superb kick through a sea of South African bodies that gave Ireland the line-out that led to his buzzer beater, it capped a hugely effective cameo from Frawley on his sixth cap.
As referee Karl Dickson blew his whistle, Frawley wheeled away in jubilation, his ecstatic team-mates joining him as a heavyweight classic ended with those in green toasting a win for the ages.
For Ireland, it was a second win on South African soil in 12 attempts. For Frawley – who later revealed Ireland had prepared for the drop-goal scenario – it was redemption in its sweetest form.
“I had a bit of disappointment with Leinster at the end of the season against Toulouse,” said Frawley, still processing the biggest moment of his career.
“There the drop-goal went to the left, so it was good to see this one go through the posts.”
Watching the smile break out on Frawley’s face, it was impossible not to recall the great Johnny Sexton, his arms outstretched, stunning the Stade de France into silence with a glorious drop-goal in the 2018 Six Nations.
And while it may have lacked the Grand Slam-clinching mania of Ronan O’Gara against Wales in 2009, it still stands as one of the more unforgettable moments by an Ireland player in the 15 years since.
When Sexton drew the curtain on his Test career after Ireland’s World Cup exit at the hands of the All Blacks, it left a sizeable hole in the Irish attack.
Jack Crowley, who served as Sexton’s apprentice at the World Cup, has been entrusted with the number 10 jersey, and while the Munster man enjoyed a steady Six Nations, Frawley has staked his claim for a starting role.
Since making his Leinster debut in 2018, he has been used at full-back and in the centres, with Sexton among those denying the Sydney-born back a run at 10.
Indeed, when Andy Farrell handed the 26-year-old his first Ireland start, it was at 15 against Wales in this year’s Six Nations.
The chances of a future Test career there, however, appear slim given Hugo Keenan’s consistency and the emergence of Jamie Osborne, who was hugely impressive on Saturday.
And while Frawley has not started for Ireland since that Wales game, perhaps his time will come when the All Blacks visit Dublin on 8 November.
For now, though, at the end of a draining season of ups and downs for both club and country, Frawley can soak up the acclaim after becoming Ireland’s latest drop-goal hero.
Redemption is often at the heart of sport’s most compelling moments. It was no different here.