Ireland have passed their first real test of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with a bruising 13-8 win over South Africa in the Stade de France.
The atmosphere in Paris was tense, with a final-like feeling, and the play on the field reflected this with both teams making a slew of handling errors.
The major talking point in the first 40 was Ireland's line out, of which they lost five, preventing them from taking advantage of the large amount of territory they had in the opening quarter of the match.
South Africa were clinical with their first foray into Ireland's 22 and took the lead with a penalty from Mannie Libbok.
However, Rónan Kelleher and the Irish pack managed to steady the line-out somewhat and Ireland turned the screw on South Africa with Bundee Aki once again leading the performance.
Their pressure finally resulted in points with Mack Hansen going over in the corner after a slick assist from James Lowe.
Mack Hansen goes over and Ireland lead South Africa! ☘️
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📻 https://t.co/MBTch4SP3B pic.twitter.com/Hl9z0D37o7— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 23, 2023
South Africa started the first-half strongly and began to introduce the bomb squad at 48 minutes, with Ox Nche, RG Snyman, and Marco van Staden adding strength to the scrum.
Ireland couldn't handle the heat up front, and the pressure resulted in an easy run in for Cheslin Kolbe on the left wing.
Mannie Libbok's dodgy kicking let him down with the conversion, and his multiple misses during the second-half, along with a couple from Faf de Klerk was the difference between the two sides in the end, as Ireland managed to slot both of their second-half penalties, courtesy of Johnny Sexton and Jack Crowley.
South Africa had one last opportunity at the death, but their rolling maul near Ireland's try line was stopped, before the ref blew for full-time.
Cheslin Kolbe touches down to restore the lead for South Africa.
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📻 https://t.co/MBTch4SP3B pic.twitter.com/suqlALvanO— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 23, 2023
With this win, Ireland's potential World Cup path has become clearer.
They will be heavy favourites against Scotland in their final group game, which would more than likely leave New Zealand in the quarter-final.
This is seen by many as the favourable draw, rather than facing France, but in the ITV studio after this evening's game, Brian O'Driscoll issued a warning on the dangers of a smart All Black side.
"Whatever way things fall and whoever tops the group or whoever comes second we'll take them on," O'Driscoll said.
And I think with both sides we knew it was going to be a tough way through France or New Zealand, but there's nothing to fear.
There's nothing to fear in the New Zealand team anymore, because of the multiple wins over the last eight or ten years, because this isn't the best New Zealand team.
However, it doesn't mean that it's a forgone conclusion, far from it. This is still New Zealand, they're still a very smart rugby team, they're able to pick holes, their intellect will probably cause Ireland more issues than the physicality of South Africa today, which is a strange thing to say, but I would still be nervous of the prospect of taking on any All Black team.
We'll lose the run of ourselves in Ireland of course, everyone at home thinks we're getting to semi-finals and finals now, but this New Zealand team will have a lot to say before that.
SEE ALSO: Paul O'Connell Has One Big Ireland Concern Ahead Of South Africa Rugby Showdown
