Andy Farrell and Johnny Sexton determined to capitalise on win over South Africa

Andy Farrell was in jubilant mood after Ireland's tense 13-8 Rugby World Cup win over South Africa, while acknowledging that precious little separated the two sides in a game that could have gone either way.

Securing top spot in Pool B now looks highly likely, and with it a quarter-final clash against New Zealand, unless Italy pull off the mother of all shocks in their Pool A finale against the hosts.

However, the errant boots of Manie Libbok's and Faf de Klerk's played a pivotal role in Ireland's win, with four kicks on goal and 11 points going a begging.

"Wow, that was some atmosphere and if that's a sign of things to come we're going to be looking forward to the next game and hopefully that pushes us on in the competition," Farrell told RTÉ Sport after the final whistle at the Stade de France.

"It was the type of game that we all thought it was going to be. It was attritional, obviously, and a game of two halves.

"I thought we dominated field position in the first half and didn't really convert the pressure that we had. It's probably the same as far as South Africa are concerned.

"I think we all know that there were two good teams going at it and there's not much between them."

Despite the celebratory moody in Saint-Denis, the Ireland coach attempted to keep a lid on expectations and described the victory as merely the "next stage in our journey", adding "It's a pool stage win and that's what it is. I kept on saying that the points on offer against Romania and Tonga were the same. We're glad to keep rolling and get another four points.

"We'll get through the medicals in the morning and hopefully we can enjoy a few days break because it's come at a nice time."

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