15. Hugo Keenan
Survived some unsympathetic passes from teammates that he had to jump to catch, getting emptied in a couple of tackles but never flinched and was brilliant aerially especially in the build-up to Mack Hansen’s try. Rating: 8
14. Robert Baloucoune
A couple of examples of his excellent footwork when he escaped the first tackle. One or two excellent defensive reads to make important tackles. Won’t be happy in not getting to a couple of high balls and throwing in a couple of turnovers to boot. Will benefit hugely from the outing. Rating: 6
13. Garry Ringrose
A brilliant display from the moment he gathered Conor Murray’s chip kick. He gave Ireland direction in attack, carried the ball aggressively and to great effect and made some telling tackles. His defence is in the best interest of the team even if it means the odd missed tackle. Rating: 9
12. Stuart McCloskey
A brilliant start to the game, got his team out of trouble, shaking off Springboks like droplets of rain. A great turnover penalty inside Irish 22 and nine tackles in 26 minutes before unfortunately departing injured. Rating: 7
11. Mack Hansen
He didn’t have much to do for his try but there were plenty of other positive aspects to his performance. Unusually kicked when he had a chance to run one-on-one in space. Grew into the game and scrambled well in defence. Rating: 7
10. Johnny Sexton
Typically courageous display in taking all the punishment that the Springboks wanted to mete out by playing flat and drawing tacklers. His passing under pressure was first class. The missed place-kicks were difficult ones. Rating: 8
9. Conor Murray
His 100th cap was bookended by two excellent pieces of rugby, a chip kick and then a superb break from a lineout from after which he pulled up lame. A couple of ill-chosen box-kicks but two great cover tackles. Rating: 6
1. Andrew Porter
He conceded a penalty at a lineout but that was largely the only blemish in an industrious display where he carried into heavy traffic and was one of the few that periodically managed to emerge past the gain-line. Rating: 7
2. Dan Sheehan
One overthrow aside, he produced a superb performance, physical on both sides of the ball, a great block down that almost led to a try and was physically a match for his opponents in most facets of the game. Rating: 8
3. Tadhg Furlong
Rescued Ireland late on in the first half when James Ryan forced a lineout error, showed good feet in contact on a couple of occasions, nice hands too but penalised for not going back through the gate to grab a loose ball at a ruck. Damaged his ankle when forcing his way out of his own in-goal and preventing a 5m scrum. Rating: 6
4. Tadhg Beirne
He did brilliantly to slow South African ball down at ruck time in the first half and took a hammering for his efforts but didn’t give an inch. He showed fast hands to get the pass away in the build-up to Hansen’s try. Rating: 7
5. James Ryan
An outstanding game despite giving up a couple of penalties. He led by example in every aspect of the game, focused and aggressive, carrying, tackling and hitting rucks and running a lineout that functioned admirably. Rating: 9
6. Peter O’Mahony
Won a couple of penalty turnovers at a ruck, offered his usual lineout excellence, popping up on the touchlines and bringing a typically committed and unrelenting work-rate. Rating: 7
7. Josh van der Flier
A try scorer, did brilliantly to ground the ball as 15 others in the maul headed over the touchline. Carried hard and led the team with 16 tackles. A remarkable performance given the injury issues that curtailed his prep. Rating: 8
8. Caelan Doris
An excellent all-round performance especially in taking the lion’s share of the carrying duties. Used his footwork and intelligence to eke out the metres and rarely let the first tackler get him to ground. Rating: 8
Replacements: Finlay Bealham won two scrum penalties, Jamison Gibson-Park provided Ireland’s attack with a new dimension, a lovely reverse flick and a great decision and break in the build-up to Mack Hansen’s try. Jimmy O’Brien should be very proud of his debut, he coped superbly at outside centre and his left footed kicking was a bonus. The entire bench added energy and momentum for the fraught end game. Rating: 9
Coach: Andy Farrell devised a game plan to beat the world champions, one that didn’t contain the razzle dazzle of some of the rugby in the Test series win over New Zealand. This win will still be hugely enjoyable given the injury challenges the team faced on the day to squeeze past a hugely physical and committed Springboks. Rating: 8
