Player ratings: Thin air
They looked certain of clinching the Series with 19 minutes remaining in the match but the Springboks' replacements were just too strong and confident and the Irish were not able to hold on as they leaked four second half tries.
It was by no means a bad performance by the visitors, they simply could not handle the altitude.
Tauriq Ebrahim rates the Ireland players!
15 Jared Payne
Asked plenty of questions in the first half and should be pleased with his performance.
7/10
14 Andrew Trimble
Carried the ball with purpose and worked his socks off on and off the ball.
6/10
13 Robbie Henshaw
Found himself playing a very defensive role and was one of the Irish players who had a below average game.
4/10
12 Stuart Olding
Used as the crash ball runner more often than not and showed plenty of strength in the contact area.
6/10
11 Craig Gilroy
Caused some trouble in the first half but was shown up in the final 20 minutes of the game.
5/10
10 Paddy Jackson
Tactically brilliant as he kept the Springboks pinned in their half with a highly educated boot.
7/10
9 Conor Murray
Controlled the tempo of the game and quite simply ran the show for about 60 minutes before he was outplayed.
6/10
8 Jamie Heaslip
Defensively brilliant but when he was needed to provide grunt, he failed to do so.
5/10
7 Rhys Ruddock
Immense in the opening 60 minutes but struggled to maintain his high work rate in the Highveld air.
6/10
6 Iain Henderson
Another defensively good performance but started to tire as the match went on.
5/10
5 Quinn Roux
A very good debut match for the South African-born lock as he did the basics well.
6/10
4 Devin Toner
Picked up where he left off last week and although he was not as dominant, he remained a thorn in the Springboks' side.
7/10
3 Tadhg Furlong
Brilliant at scrum time and dominated his opponents.
6/10
2 Rory Best (captain)
His team missed his leadership in the final 15 minutes after a typical bruising display.
6/10
1 Jack McGrath
Had a field day against Frans Malherbe at scrum time and put in a massive effort on defence.
7/10
Replacements:
16 Richardt Strauss (on for Best, 65th min)
Was up against it during his time on the park and failed to get the better of his cousin.
4/10
17 Dave Kilcoyne (on for McGrath, 65th min)
Offered very little resistance when his side was under immense pressure.
3/10
18 Finlay Bealham (on for Furlong, 60th min)
Had big shoes to fill and found himself up against it in the contact and setpiece areas.
3/10
19 Donnacha Ryan (on for Roux, 51st min)
Fairly satisfactory but will be disappointed that he could not make a massive impact on proceedings.
4/10
20 Sean Reidy (blood replacement for Ruddock, 43rd min and on for Henderson, 71st min)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Kieran Marmion (on for Murray, 77th min)
Not enough time to be rated.
22 Ian Madigan (on for Henshaw, 78th min)
Not enough time to be rated.
23 Tiernan O'Halloran
Not used.
