Player ratings: Fade to black
Ireland were unable to push on after an impressive first forty minutes as they succumbed 16-12 to South Africa in Dublin on Saturday.
The black-clad Irish fronted up to the Springboks and won the early physical confrontations to head into half time 12-3 up.
However, a second half slump ensued and while they never let up, the inexperienced Irish saw victory slip from their grasp.
Quintin van Jaarsveld rates the Springbok players.
15 Simon Zebo
The most elusive man on the park, Zebo was an attacking threat every time he had the ball.
7/10
14 Tommy Bowe
A solid effort marred by two penalties and a handling error that gifted the Boks an attacking five-metre line-out, which led to the only try of the match.
6.5/10
13 Keith Earls
Another who kept the Boks’ defence busy with his speed and fancy footwork.
7/10
12 Gordon D'Arcy
Poor on defence, D’Arcy missed two tackles and were unable to stop Jean de Villiers from crashing over the gainline.
5/10
11 Andrew Trimble
A turnover was the highlight of his error-strewn, anonymous showing.
5/10
10 Jonathan Sexton
From an attacking point of view, he did little with the good ball his forwards gave him in the first half and missed two kicks at goal.
6.5/10
9 Conor Murray
Quick to the ball, provided good service and gained good ground with his box kicking.
7/10
8 Jamie Heaslip
His sending off was the turning point of the match with the Boks scoring 10 points in his absence.
5/10
7 Chris Henry
The best of the Irish back row forwards, Henry was an effective ball-carrier and one of the hosts’ hardest working defenders.
7/10
6 Peter O'Mahony
Conceded two penalties, coughed up a regulation line-out ball and slipped a tackle.
5.5/10
5 Mike McCarthy
The pick of the Irish, McCarthy’s exceptional work on defence and abrasiveness earned him the man of the match award.
7.5/10
4 Donnacha Ryan
While solid in the line-out – with five takes – his indiscipline and suspect defence proved costly.
6/10
3 Mike Ross
Got the better of CJ van der Linde but was guilty of conceding two penalties.
6/10
2 Richardt Strauss
Bullied to a fair degree by the larger Bok forwards but was unrelenting and reliable in the set-piece.
6/10
1 Cian Healy
Very mobile across the park, Healy made seven tackles in addition to his solid scrummaging.
6.5/10
Replacements:
16 Sean Cronin (on for Strauss, third minute – blood, on for Strauss, 74th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
17 David Kilcoyne (on for Healy, 41st minute)
Struggled in the scrum but made a try-saving tackle on Francois Hougaard.
6/10
18 Michael Bent (on for Ross, 70th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
19 Donncha O'Callaghan (on for Ryan, 63rd minute, on for McCarthy, 70th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
20 Iain Henderson (on for O'Mahony, 70th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Eoin Reddan (on for Murray , 61st minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
22 Ronan O'Gara (on for D’Arcy, 74th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
23 Fergus McFadden (on for Trimble, 58th minute)
Injected some energy into the game on the wing.
6/10
