Garry Ringrose believes that Ireland can still go up another level to beat the Springboks in the decisive second Test in Durban on Saturday.

Ringrose, who played off the bench in Ireland’s 27-20 defeat in Pretoria, has been called into the starting lineup to partner Leinster teammate Robbie Henshaw in midfield at Kings Park.

The 29-year-old admitted that there weren’t many positives in the post-match review of the first Test, but added Ireland believe they can step up to win the second Test and level the series.

“When you lose you don’t take many positives. I guess the opportunities that we potentially did create, and maybe didn’t take were some,” Ringrose said.

“I think there’s another level in how we can play. A credit to them, how strong they are on defence and the pressure they put you under.

“On attack they had really good variety, so having faced them once, we need to try to level up again. There are areas of their game we’ll try to level up and try to do the same thing.

“The positives, I guess, are having an opportunity to go again and knowing that we can be better and the challenges will be to improve on what they improve on.

“There’s no egos in the group. Why we say it’s a special group, and we all feel privileged to be a part of it is because everyone wants to do their best, give their best and ultimately win, but that’s a by-product of being as focused and as hard-working and enjoying each other’s company, and all of that.

“When it doesn’t work out, a lot of guys are quite hard on themselves, so it’s about just being open and honest and transparent, and putting it all out there. That’s what the last two days have looked like – being open and honest.

“It’s a huge opportunity as a group for us to get a chance to go again. It’s all any of us would ever want.”

Ringrose will once again be up against Springbok centres Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel, who will break South Africa’s record for most Tests together as a midfield partnership.

“They’ve great cohesion when they play together,” Ringrose said.

“Damian’s an unbelievably good ball player, he can pass off both hands, kicking ability, attacking kicks, and that’s before mentioning his ability to carry.

“Then you have Jesse Kriel, who on defence gets through a crazy amount of work and chases every chance, every scrap, and he’s a cornerstone of their defence.”

Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images

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Src: sarugbymag.co.za