From an Irish point of view, that game on Saturday was probably the most engrossing game I've ever watched. It could have swung either way to be honest. 11 points missed off the tee is not great but neither is losing your first four line-outs in promising positions. Much respect to that SA side. The thought of facing the All Blacks is daunting. They're not in the best of form but always so dangerous. This current Irish squad has a lot to thank the Kiwis for. It's clear were our blue print and influences have come from. It must be said neither Scotland nor Italy will roll over so that game may not even come to pass 😂😂. Looking forward to it all regardless.

France vs South Africa, Ireland vs New Zealand, both games could go either way. We all have some very exciting rugby ahead.

Well done to Ireland on a well deserved victory! Very tough to swallow as a Springbok supporter, but the Irish were better on the day. Nobody likes losing, but this was probably the game that we could “afford” to lose. Winning would have meant facing the AB’s who we all know can easily pull off a winning performance on the day in a quarter final. For the Boks to win the cup they probably always had to beat France. The question is, with this tournament being held in France, do you rather face them in the quarter final or the final? To me the answer is very simple - if you can choose it has to be the quarter finals - not only to avoid the AB’s (for which we have so much respect) but to avoid a situation similar to ‘95 where the hosting nation will have an incredible advantage playing at home. This tournament is very far from being decided and still any team from Ireland, SA, France and NZ (let’s ignore England for now😜) can still lift the cup. Both France and SA took huge knocks in losing Dupont and Marx, but expect more exciting rugby to follow. To me one of the highlights of this game, besides the excellent rugby, was the fact that the referee’s decisions did not determine the outcome. No silly red and yellow cards. Just awesome rugby!! Again, congratulations to Ireland for beating us in this proper test match. 👏👏

“Because the winner will play the AB in quarter final”. Imagine Italy beating the AB next week…!

These Kiwi pundits look very stressed out about what they saw last night.

As an Irishman with his second team as the All Blacks having lived in NZ for a good chunk. It's a win, win for me. 😮 Gl to both teams, we're certainly spoilt in this World Cup for match ups! Churr.

Anyone looking at Ireland in last few years would know they consistently kick to the corner when they get penalties.This is because they are very good at scoring tries when they get into the red zone .

Ireland team play was fantastic to watch didn't panic look really composed, which is scary as a ABZ supporter, especially after there series win over us. So gutted top 4 sides are on the one side, shows us that can't happen, these 4 teams needed to be in a perfect world in the semi's. Good luck to all teams

I think the biggest change we've seen with Ireland since the last world cup is their mental fortitude. They never panic, they just stick to their plan and it always seems to work out for them. They lost 2 games in 2022 and none so far in 2023, that's some record to have.

I can see lots of SA fans relieved at the prospect of avoiding the AB in the quarters, overlooking France. Well we'll see. No disrespect to South Africa or NZ, but France is on a mission, and we've beaten both teams last time we faced them. The boys in blue have been expecting this moment for years now. It's their moment, won't let it go easily.

I think you will find it was Declan Kidney that started the current form in Irish rugby, Joe Schmidt built on that and now Andy Farrell is building further. Not to forget the work of all those over the years behind the scenes and including David Nucifora. By the way, media has being reporting recently Schmidt may be returning to Ireland after the World Cup to replace Nucifora. So interesting times may be ahead for Ireland.

If the AB play Ireland and SA play France in QF anything can happen. Both those games too close to call for me. As a Bok supporter I fear the French a little bit less than the ABs since we can match the French pack but if the AB play a high tempo game and they bring their A game, they normally beat us.

Too simplistic to think that the kicking cost them the game. Ireland went to the corner three times when they could've easily put 9 points on the board. Plus SA scored their try shortly after hitting the post.

Worrying part was that game was 80 minutes of intensity from both teams I can’t see this current ABs crop matching, sticking to us going out in the QFs

Different opinion. Boks tried some different things knowing that winning or losing doesn't matter. ABs are so unpredictable and can play that one game where no one will beat them. Not dissing France but ABs our bogey side for many years.

If you don't have a goal kicker, you can't expect to win these kind of games.

One thing that balances it out is the South African 11 point missed as opposed to Irelands five missed lineouts and the scores missed, as for New Zealand vs Ireland we will see and I can't wait

As an AB fan im so gald we are playing ireland instead of the boks. Semi final here we come

Now that was a great and balanced interview and insights from both Jeff & Mills. I was very critical of Jeff following his previous comments about the Boks - but it was a pleasure to hear unbiased and insightful critique

Why no mention of the stamping incident. There is plenty of footage online about the South Africa prop Ox Nche stepping on Josh van der Flier's fingers.

As a kiwi. The Irish fronted up no question and deserved to win. As for our chances of beating Ireland if that is indeed a conclusion for the QF ( not getting ahead of myself) then the ABs are going to have to be ruthless and clinical. We have to get through the next two games flawlessly. No cards, single digit penalty count etc… we will be punished if we are not clinical.

The de Klerk kick that hit the post ended up in a try eventually so that 5 points you can take from the 11 missed. Plus Ireland turned down a kickable penalty early in the game and came away with nothing.

Wilson is still sulking that everyone isnt talking about how wonderful NZ are

One converted penalty from either side would have changed the flow of the game.There would have been a kick off from the halfway line, and could have resulted in the other penalties not even being awarded. If a penalty is awarded as the last act of the game, with the points diffrence being 3 or less, then, and ONLY then, whether the kick is successful or not, will it influence the result. As regards to the Pollard/Libbok question - irrespective of Pollards kicking accuracy, the main diffrence is his defence. There is nothing Libbok can do which he can't do. He can run, pass, kick pass, chip-kick and gather, attack the gain line, and hit the gaps like few can do. It all depends on strategies and instructions. Examples: Libbok's missed tackle resulted in Roigard's try in the All Black vs Springbok game at Twickenham. The other missed tackle took place against Ireland, that resulted in Aki's break, and a subsequent try. In both cases, seven points handed to the opposition on a platter. In order to win a rugby game, a team must score more points than the oppostion. Defence, therefore is paramount. If you can keep the opposition from scoring at all, a team only has to score ONCE to win a game - whether it be a drop goal, penalty kick or try, it does not matter. Libbok's poor kicking at goal was not as big an influence on the result as everybody is trying to make out. I can understand the Springbok management being not to concerned for now. Come play-off time, accurate kicking is important to create scoreboard pressure, and converting "last act" kicks as it is MUST win situations, on order to progress.

Ireland went to the corners 3 times when they could have taken points so a real non issue.

Why would anyone want to play the French in a RWC quarter-final in Paris. Stade de France will be a furnace with an atmosphere never witnessed before by a SH audience. The SA players will need Rassie's stupid lights on the field just to communicate calls. They fooked up against Ireland even before kick off. They tried to play mind games, with Andre Farrell and Jonathan Sexton of all people, and screwed up their 2023 RWC tournament chances.

It was a close game. Ireland congratulations.

Jeff, some good points voiced. Looking forward to an AB/Irish QF!

South Africa would have loved NZ in the quarters

Guys, im Irish, but Scotland have a massive say in this. Take every game one at a time. Scots are a tough team to beat

Ireland just played their final in the group stage it reminds me of England playing their final against nz last world cup

Big factor for Ireland is the crowd that came to their last game, they love the support and thrived off it. I think the AB are capable of beating them but will have to be at their best like they did against SA in NZ. Hold onto possession and shift it wide fast, the Irish defense seemed vulnerable at times against the Boks and we couldnt get the final pass away which the AB can do. QF are going to be tough to watch and Fiji looks like they the form SH team at the moment that could get to a semi.

"Did the right team win?" - What an odd way to begin this 'analysis' - Yeah SA missed some kicks but 2 of them were speculative efforts from a long way out and they scored a try from one of those misses that hit the post. Ireland lost 4 lineouts 5 meters out, they left points out there too!

Don't forget that each game is played and planned for one purpose only: i.e. to win the WC. It really is a game of chess the whole tournament through. Who you would like to meet in the quarters, semi's etc. Those kind of permutations..

On a complete side note anyone see the tackle on the Scottish player from the Tongan today? If degroot got a red and a ban HOW ON EARTH did that Tongan get away with a yellow? It was night and day different from the de groot tackle and yet somehow they get away with it?

You could term it as a grudge match for us too if you were so inclined. As we keep getting told, the friendly games mean little, and you hammered us in the 2019 QF, one to be frank where we were expected to lose, so it's a chance for us for some sort of redemption for that too, but I'll take a one point victory 😋

Ireland beat the Boks with a dysfunctional line out and kept kicking for the corners instead of the posts. Ireland could have been far ahead of they decided to kick posts instead.

The Irish were deserving winners. They fought for every inch and every point and despite them being ranked number one for over a year, they were not giving the credit they deserved entering this game. In short, the lean, mean, green, fighting Irish rugby machine was operational last night.

Ok it’s nice these guys want to look at potential quarterfinals, but let’s just focus on Italy first then the last pool match alright.

Come on Italy Shock the world !

SA gave Ireland the bait and they took it 😂

Ire came in calm and focused. SA came in too full of emotion and without a good place kicker. They made a huge number of mistakes. Ire deserved the win. More focused and less mistakes. SA could easily have won that game - and probably should have. I see them coming back stronger in KO stages.

This means you fellas have got a game on your hands in the quarters.

Turns out it was the trigger to the Boks digging deep into their SAFFA grit and using that to pave the way to the top of the RWC mountain,.. again,..for the fourth time,.. back to back.🔥🏆🏆🏆🏆🇿🇦

The game against Ireland is history Put it behind you and move on Springboks need to focus on each game on hand, stay calm and do your best What ever happens let it be l am a proud supporter of the springboks, winning or not 🇿🇦🏉💪

Losing Marx was significant for the Boks.

Still think this loss was nore tactical than anything else.... not dissing france but AB SA have mixed fortunes where i think we stand a better than average chance of beating the french... besides that would be nice to kick them out since the bribed their way to hosting and stealing it from SA. Anyways ireland nz game will be killer to watch and i think like in 2019 Ireland played their final against us and wont be able to replicate that performance again against nz

This 7-1 thing was an experiment. It did not back-fire, but it also showed the Boks what wors/doesnt work...

Guys you keep forgetting that Scotland can still qualify

On form , Ireland will beat All Blacks . Good to hear some more humility in Goldies analysis , he knows whats really up .

I remember France v NZ in the 87 WC. That was my introduction to the All Blacks apparently the mightiest sports team ever to walk on Earth.

Sincerely pleasant surprised how gracious the boks fans have been in defeat 👏🏼

It means the All Blacks have to win, this was what we All Blacks fans wanted to avenge our Series lost last year for now the priority is Italy, & Uruguay, and securing 2nd spot to make the Quarter finals.

South Africa showed how the AB can play against Ireland.

If the ABs get to the quarterfinals Ireland will certainly be the favourites- but anything can happen as we have already seen in the tournament!

I no the Boks left pts out there with the pns but so did our team with the lineout the Boks did great job at disrupting our lineout hard not to with players nearly 7 foot but that's were we get alot of our tries I do think if Sheehan plays that gets sorted?? But here I do hope that if we get the final we avoid another war playing a more attacking team suits us.. We can't get carried away and not forget New Zealand and France?? But what a game 2 best sides going at it only started to recover on Monday, Massive respect to the Boks👍☘☘☘

This lot are ridiculous they are still not rating Ireland as being well above the ABs is almost every way. They need to be looking at the Italian game instead of this rubbish about meeting Ireland in the QF. The azzurri will have been targeting this game

I think both teams tried things. More so south africa to see where their kickers were from 50 out. in a final you will see south africa kick to the corner and build maul pressure, not go for a speccy 50m penalty. rassie for me wanted to see if faf was able to under pressure form that spot and he failed so now raisie will strategise for that ahead of pollard coming back. it was a game to test and tweak imo.

First time in a long time Jeff said something smart 😂

We need to get our selections just right. We need X Factors on the Bench. Roigard,Faigna’anuku need be on that Bench.

NZ pundits are very insightful when they're not complaining about referees.

As a bok supporter I am actually quite relieved we are not playing the All Blacks

as an irish fan .. i fiind it utterly incredible that we can actually look forward to playing the All blacks and be confident of beating them ... For the last 50 years years.. basically since i was a kid .whenever we used to play the All blacks.. such was the fear and awe and respect that we had for them ... Ireland would be defeated in mind body and spirit before the game even started .. we were already defeated before kick off !!.... thats all changed now and we know that we can compete with NZ, and we know that we are actually as good of not better in some areas ... i also believe that the Irish coaching ticket is far smarter and much more innovative the New Zealands current coaching team , but we can expect that Scott Robertson will bring the All blacks back to the Glory days once he takes over

joe Schmidt will be massive for AB's but Ireland know what to expect from him. Sometimes he can be over structured which does not suit the AB's expanded type of play they traditionally play.

Good fair analysis gents. As an Irish fan, I'd rather be playing France in the quarters than the ABs. The ABs still have an aura about them in Ireland, we know the French and know that we can beat them regularly. You don't often beat the ABs twice in a row. Ireland still have to get out of the group as do SA. Scotland could yet have a say in who is first or second in that group. What a pity that two of France, NZ,SA and Ireland will not get by the Qtrs. Wales and Fiji are looking good for an easy route to the semi's, but I feel that they will be out-classed by which teams win "our" tougher qtr finals. Can wait !

Team's don't look at the all Black's the way they used to things have changed, not taking anything away from the massive impact new Zealand have and had in Rugby but the landscape has changed

Marx and Pollard would have won this game for Boks as breakdown accuracy and goal kicking was only thing lacking. Set piece, defence and gain line physicality all there for Boks

Ireland will again not make it further than the quarter finals. I believe it's going to be a Springbok-All Black final.

The boks are in for a real tough quarters. Cannot see them beaten the french. French have the power to match the so called bomb squad and scrum. Have the speed and skill on the wings to penetrate the boks defense. Quality kickers that do not miss and a good line out. It will be a challanging night for the boks

It’s time the Kiwis gave Ireland a reality check. I can’t see Ireland beating the traditionally two best teams in rugby history, the Springboks and the All Blacks back to back. Something is seriously awry with Southern Hemisphere rugby if this was to occur.

For the first time , I've actually listened to these 3 musketeers till the end 😂 Normally I switch them off after the first sentence

With the qaurters matchups there are 2 fantastic games in the offing. As a saffa i would really like the ABs to beat Ireland just to bring them down to earth a little. Only 2 teams can beat them ...SA and the Kiwis

If Johnny sexton was kicking for south Africa they would have won😮

1. Am 2. Marx 3. Pollard 4. Vermeulen 5. De Jager Just saying. SA lost, but nobody shouldn't get too far ahead of themselves.

Nice , to see the all blacks fans humble, the boks were telling us irish fans they were goin to murder us , there's not a lot of talk that newzealand smashed ireland in the first test match , goin be a great match , and I honestly belive newzealand are the best equipped ream to beat us , that said ireland by 10

As an Irish fan I don't think there is any actual game advantage to facing either New Zealand or France in the quarter final. They are both terrific teams who could knock us out of the tournament. However, I do think there is a benefit to finishing your pool unbeaten which is what the Ireland team are striving to do. This is particularly tough to do in one of the hardest world cup pools ever, and would have value as such. Winning generates confidence and confidence generates winning. Another bonus might be that if Ireland avoid the host nation they more than likely will have the majority of the crowd on their side and effectively have home field advantage as was the case against the Boks last week. However, I wont start banging my drum for a few weeks yet.

Springboks need to focus on the game against Tonga now The game against Ireland is history They have to win Tonga 60+

SA have had remarkable luck the last 2 world cups. I personally don’t think they would have won the World Cup had they won their opening game vs the ABs. The fact that Japan won their pool and ended up as the Boks QF, and then a relatively average Wales as a semi meant they had much more in the tank. I can see exactly the same scenario, a depleted France (though much better than a home Japan) and then Fiji/Argentina semi.

In regards to the boks penalties . Fafs 2 were inside there half and the pen that hit the post the scored a try from. So it was 5 points left out there . Ireland blew 3 line outs in boks 22 inside the first 20 mins.

First time I have seen rugby challenge commentator in person.

Sitting in a room full of AB supporters , It seems Green is the new Black....does not bother us as. Easily the best 2 teams in the Competition....part 2 coming up in the Finals.

Something tells me that unfortunate loss to Ireland is a blessing in disguise for South Africa. If the Boks knock out the hosts then I think they'll win the cup once again. The hosts are ultimately the team to beat especially if you want to go all the way. I'm 100% sure that if Pollard had started then they would've won that game. Any decent kicker scores those opportunities missed by Libbok. Libbok is kak.

The intensity of the Quarter finals is a different Intensity to the pool matches it would be similar to the Ireland and Springboks game, I like how the All blacks are flying under radar right now.

I tell you now, springbok fans are happy to play a weak French team over the All Blacks. You guys are in a bit of strife though now. Ireland are hard mate. I think rassie isnt too worried with the way it’s panned out because we can beat Ireland in a final. We just need to get there. Basically I respect a wounded AB's more than the French

Funny how you lot took the 2 mics instead of 3 backlash to heart. 😂

🇿🇦NZ can be very proud of the the performance so far of Ben O’Keefe.Certainly a contender to referee the final if AB’s don’t play in it.

Saffa here, I will tell you all now, this Kiwi team is a downed Lion, much like the Boks were in 2019. Write NZ off at your own peril. I expect a massive resurgence from this team. Hope to see you in the final, All Blacks. 💪

As a Boks supporter and a coach, this loss was genius on the part of Rassie and Jacques. Absolute genius. Ireland was beautifully set up to bring their A game. Yet SA struggled to lose the game, too many missed opportunities for such a world class team. We now Ireland has to contend with the All Blacks. Either way, it's a knock out. France is a better option for the knockouts than the All Blacks. SA wants our 4th WC Championship win. There has never been a better time than now to cement our position as the greatest rugby nation ever. That being said, the competition is tough and only the best team will win on the day. All the best to all the teams. Only the best can win 🎉

Ireland didn't win this game the Springboks lost it, terrible kicking by them to many lost points

High tempo wounded AB's gonna be interesting

Ireland know how to plan to dismantle teams. I have no doubt they've worked us out even after our developments since the 2022 series. It just depends on their execution and if we bring something new (which we might but it'll only work early on not the entire match). We would prefer SA since we know them better.

Goal kicking

Wasn't the safa try a blatent forward pass? Let go on the 5 and caught at the 2..

in 2019 RWC, I believe SA lost intentionally against NZ, in pool stage I think they did the same against Ireland, by missing so many kicks & failing to punish Ireland for their poor lineouts...SA are saving themselves for the Final..and avoiding NZ in semi...now Ireland will have to beat SA twice to lift the trophy...

ireland fan here, his commentary voice is iconic, didnt even know what he looked like

I would be careful about South Africa they like to play mind games and wouldn't surprise me if this game was lost on purpose...

A positive Ireland can’t take away from this game. They are not good enough to beat the Boks if they had an decent goal kicker.

Why does everyone think ABs aren't big enough to compete with the top teams. Our first choice forward pack is NZ - 954kg + tamaiti 966kg Boks - 963kg Ireland - 932kg - 954kg France - 962 And our backs are around the save average size as all of those teams. Boks have some very big backs and some very small. Just seems to be a false narrative that everyone is going with. But the facts and stats say different.

As a South African , we are rooting for the AB s to knock out Ireland. Fyi as far as I'm concerned the best kicker the world has ever seen was Andrew Merton - consistently good game after game. He rarely missed.

Who's letting these bots in the comments section 😮🤖