Following a 24-13 victory for the Springboks over Ireland on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the huge end-of-year Test at the Aviva Stadium.
The top line
The Springboks cemented their position as the best side in the world at the moment with a brutal display of power against an ill-disciplined Ireland side in a mind-boggling contest full of incident.
In truth, the scoreline did not do the game justice, with South Africa dominating the majority of the contest. Only an impressive Irish defence and sheer bloody-mindedness prevented the visitors from winning by a more comfortable margin.
The world champions were
