FULL-TIME: SOUTH AFRICA 27-20 IRELAND. It was too close for comfort at the end, but South Africa led from the early minutes of the game, when Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a try, and asserted their status as the world's best side.
TRY, IRELAND, BAIRD! 27-20: Lowe pulls a couple of defenders in before giving the decisive pass out wide for Baird to finish! The conversion is missed.
PENALTY TRY, SOUTH AFRICA! 27-15: Fine work from the scrum as the Boks force the penalty try and Kelleher gets a yellow card.
CONVERSION, IRELAND, CROWLEY! 20-15
TRY, IRELAND, MURRAY! 20-13: Kelleher bursts through a gap in the defence and gives the ball off to Murray for the finish right under the posts!
Doris tries to go over for the try but is held up just short and can't stretch over.
YELLOW CARD, SOUTH AFRICA, ARENDSE! Arendse goes to the sin-bin with Ireland piling on the pressure, seeking a way back into the game.
CONVERSION, SOUTH AFRICA, POLLARD! 20-8: Pollard finds his kicking boots again as he converts from out wide.
TRY, SOUTH AFRICA, KOLBE! 18-8: Kolbe capitalises after Lowe keeps the ball in play, allowing the winger to get hold of it with few bodies in place to stop the ensuing charge. Kolbe kicks into space, evades two sliding Irish bodies and goes over for the try!
Great work from Casey to force the 50-22 with a superb kick.
Pollard goes for posts from the ensuing penalty, but pulls that one well wide.
TRY DISALLOWED! Ireland hold firm through a lengthy spell of Springbok pressure. Then, after Kriel is tackled, some strong counter-rucking sees them win the turnover. The ball is swung wide by Casey to Lowe and he's away, but after a TMO check, the try is disallowed for an infringement at the breakdown!
Porter goes off, seemingly nursing a minor injury, and is replaced by Healy.
Chance for the Springboks as they close in on the try line yet again. Kriel is tackled but offloads for Arendse, who can't quite gather as he lets the pass slip. It was a difficult one for him to catch undoubtedly.
Early penalty for Pollard to try convert from under the posts, but he surprisingly pushes wide.
KICK-OFF! The second half is underway.
HALF-TIME: SOUTH AFRICA 13-8 IRELAND. The Boks lead at the break. It's been a closely fought contest but the Boks are clearly on top.
Pollard has a shot at posts from a penalty but pushes this one wide -- his first miss of the evening.
The conversion attempt is missed.
TRY, IRELAND, OSBORNE! 13-8: Ireland go over in the corner as Osborne collects the inside pass and scores!
Golden opportunity for Ireland to get back within touching distance as Mbonambi is penalised at the ruck. However, the kick from Crowley goes wide of posts.
PENALTY, SOUTH AFRICA, POLLARD! 13-3: Never in doubt!
The Boks are on the front foot as we head towards the half-hour mark. Porter goes off his feet before making a tackle and gives away a penalty. This is very kickable.
Crowley goes for the up-and-under inside his own half. Ireland knock on and Arendse gets the ball, but is bundled into touch.
PENALTY, SOUTH AFRICA, POLLARD! 10-3: McCarthy gives away a penalty for failing to roll away and Pollard steps up to the tee to extend the lead back to seven points from in front of the posts.
PENALTY, IRELAND, CROWLEY! 7-3: Ireland force a penalty at the breakdown and get on the board off the tee through a solid kick from Crowley.
Ireland enjoy a spell on the front foot and Sheehan goes for a tap-and-go from a penalty around five yards out. The Boks defence holds firm as the ball goes through the phases and eventually, there's a knock-on at the breakdown. It appeared to be from McCarthy. There's a bit of handbags between the teams as the Boks get the scrum.
CONVERSION, SOUTH AFRICA, POLLARD! 7-0: Pollard gets off to a fine start as he extends the Boks' lead.
TRY, SOUTH AFRICA, ARENDSE! 5-0: The Springboks work the ball out left through the likes of Kriel and Kolisi for Arendse, who effortlessly steps inside two would-be tacklers to go over for the first try of the game!
KICK-OFF! Ireland get the game up and running at Loftus Versfeld.
The anthems are sung with much gusto on both sides. The crowd joins in for the home side to fire them up ahead of what should be a bruising battle.
England's Luke Pearce is the referee. Karl Dickson (England) and Mike Adamson (Scotland) are his assistants, with Ben Whitehouse (Wales) on TMO duties.
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter. Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Garry Ringrose
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the test between the Springboks and Ireland at Loftus Versfeld.
