Some stellar play by the Springboks had the Irish in trouble in the opening minutes, with Damian Willemse scoring five minutes in after a wonderful intervention by Damian de Allende opened up the Irish defence.

Ireland conceded a 20 minute red for a dangerous charge at a ruck by James Ryan and a second try by Cobus Reinach on the back of a number of pressure scrums by the Boks extended the lead to 12-0.

Credit to Ireland who pulled back a try with only 13 players on the field after Sam Prendergast was shown yellow, but the momentum was on South Africa.

It was no surprise when referee Matthew Carley awarded a penalty try to the Boks in the final minute of the first half, while sending Andrew Porter to the bin off the back of a massive scrum, where he joined Prendergast and Jack Crowley on the sidelines.

Scorers:

Ireland (7) – Try: Dan Sheehan. Conversion: Jack Crowley.

Springboks (19) - Tries: Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Penalty Try. Conversion: Sacha Feinberg- Mngomezulu.