It wasn’t pretty as the four-time world champions had to work hard for their first win in Dublin in 13 years.
The Springboks underlined yet again why they are the world’s best rugby team with a hard-fought 24-13 win over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday night.
It wasn’t pretty as the four-time world champions had to work hard for their first win in Dublin in 13 years as the Irish, on the end of four yellow cards and a red, defended valiantly to restrict the visitors from adding to the scoreline.
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It was their fourth win of their European tour, having already beaten Japan, France and Italy, with next week’s final match against Wales looming. It was South Africa’s second win over the Irish in their past six Tests.
It really has been a wonderful year for the Boks, who have recorded 11 wins from 13 matches. They also thumped a Barbarians XV in Cape Town in June.
Only a slip-up against the Wallabies at Ellis Park after an uncharacteristic second-half snooze and an average performance against the All Blacks in Auckland are their only blemishes this year.
To make the victory even sweeter, hooker Malcolm Marx was named as the World Rugby Player of the Year, becoming only the fourth South African after Schalk Burger (2004), Bryan Habana (2007) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (2019 and 2024) to win the award.
The Boks’ cup runneth over. A victory over Wales on Saturday will just add icing to the cake.
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