South Africa v Ireland LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as Springboks survive crazy finish to win first Test

A smattering of Irishmen and women have made the trip down to Pretoria. They warble along to “Ireland’s Call”.

A powerful, emotional South African national anthem, plenty of players looking to the heavens or shutting their eyes. Eben Etzebeth breaks into a smile as he soaks it all in.

Out comes Peter O’Mahony and his squad, a slightly tentative trudge through the more slippery parts of the long Loftus Versfeld tunnel and then a more purposeful march into the evening air.

The volume lifts as the Springboks make their homecoming. They were denied this, of course, after 2019 due to the pandemic - the world champions are back on their own patch.

Good areas from the band, playing “Zombie” as the squads assemble in the tunnel, imploring the stands to chant “Rassie” in lieu of Dolores O’Riordan’s usual pained cries. There’s going to be a bit of niggle.

Loftus Versfeld is bouncing for kick off, a brass and percussion band providing heavy beats to get the crowd on their feet. World Cup winners vs Six Nations champions - let’s get going!

Kick off rapidly approaching in Pretoria. Here are the names you need to know from an officiating point of view:

Referee: Luke Pearce (Eng)

ARs: Karl Dickson (Eng) & Mike Adamson (Sco)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)

It’s the first game in charge of South Africa’s defence for former Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery today. Given how Harlequins’ defence fell apart after Flannery’s sudden departure last year, he was clearly doing fine work in South West London - that could be a good bit of business from Rassie Erasmus, drawing on his significant connections with Munster to replace both Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones.

Attack coach Tony Brown is one of the most highly-rated schemers in the world, too, and it’ll be fun to see what wrinkles he throws in today. Duane Vermeulen also steps up into the South African coaching team after being a key leader on and off the field for the last half-decade.

After an enterprising debut off the bench against Wales, it’ll be fascinating to see how Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is utilised today. The Stormer offers versatility and variety at 10, 12 or 15 – where Rassie Erasmus deploys him may be a key indicator in how he sees South Africa evolving over the next few years. That adaptability ensures that the Springboks can stick with their favoured six/two bench and not fret about playing someone out of position, particularly with replacement scrum half Grant Williams covering wing, too.

There was plenty of speculation at the end of the Six Nations that Peter O’Mahony’s final Ireland game might have been the title-sealing win over Scotland, but the flanker has been named captain again in Andy Farrell’s squad to confront the Springboks. The 34-year-old is probably the perfect leader for a tour of South Africa, confrontational and robust, yet there are signs that Farrell is starting to really think about life after his leader.

Ryan Baird is getting better and better on the blindside, while Cian Prendergast has several strong seasons behind him. Newbie Cormac Izuchukwu has quickly gone from an intriguing project to a genuine difference-maker at Ulster, while Tom Ahern will surely be back in the mix after injury. The quartet are all long-limbed lineout leapers with the acceleration to cause real problems as edge forwards in Ireland’s attacking structure — it may be that a couple of them are seen as locks but it’s a fascinating group regardless.