At the Aviva Stadium in DublinIreland significantly enhanced their number-one standing in world rugby when they saw off the Springboks 19-16 in a tense Test in Dublin on a cool but comfortable Saturday evening.Were Ireland the better side?
In front of their passionate crowd, they were, and the critical part was their ability to make their chances count.They struck twice in four minutes just after the half-time break through loose-forward Josh van der Flier and wing Mack Hansen to give Ireland a 10-point buffer that was too much for the Boks to overhaul.The Boks had more than a decent foothold in the game and did well to score and stay in the game, but the lack of a regular goal-kicker hurt them badly.The seven points that were missed off the tee by Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe would have swung the game in the Boks' favour.Again, the Boks were also guilty of being creatively blunt in the red zone and it's something they desperately need to fix ahead of next week's clash against France.Ireland have not only kept a 10-year home unbeaten streak against the Boks, but have beaten New Zealand and the world champions in the space of a year.They are indeed a team that has to be taken seriously while the Boks again have something to do, especially when they play catch-up rugby.
The first half was indeed a triumph for both defences as opposing coaches Andy Farrell (Ireland) and Jacques Nienaber (South Africa) are defensive specialists.Try-scoring opportunities were few and far between as rock-solid defences, despite some inexplicable reads from Bok 13 Jesse Kriel, gave away nothing.The Boks were able to weather a short storm when fullback Kolbe was yellow-carded by Georgian referee Nika Amushukeli for a dangerous tackle on