Having won the first test at Newlands last weekend, Ireland were within striking distance of a first series win in South Africa.
But the Springboks, who were jeered off at half-time, suddenly sprung to life to drive their way to a rousing victory. "They delivered an onslaught that we didn't quite match up to," Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said after his team wasted a 16-point lead to lose 32-26 in a thrilling home comeback.
"We missed tackles and got a little unlucky at times. But that's not going to change the result and the result is well and truly earned by the South Africans."
Schmidt lauded the way the hosts rallied back after conceding a sizeable lead at the break.
"The South African ball carriers really did take it to us and we were not up to the task," he said. "That's incredibly disappointing after being 26-10 ahead within the last quarter and 19-3 up at half-time.
"We missed a kick just before and just after half-time which might have kept our confidence levels up and delivered more of a blow to the South African team but the way they came back, they were relatively irrepressible."
Ireland captain Rory Best said it was hard for his team to digest the loss.
"It's very tough to take because for a large part of the first two thirds of the game we were in charge," Best said.
"We did everything we talked about not to give up the lead, we backed our fitness but we are not looking for excuses.
"I think mentally we switched off a little bit."
The series is now set for a cliff hanger finish in Port Elizabeth next Saturday. "It will take a few days to get over the anguish of surrendering the lead we had, before the build-up to the last test begins," added Schmidt.
"It was frustrating that we didn't quite hang in when the opportunity was there."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly; mark.gleeson@thomsonreuters.com; +27828257807; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: mark.gleeson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
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