Delighted Springboks defend their game plan

THE sight of South African props falling to their knees in relief and their team-mates raising arms to the stars in triumph at the final whistle spoke volumes about how much victory over Ireland meant to an under-fire Springboks camp.

Booed at home following five defeats in six Tri-Nations matches and written off on arrival in Dublin, the injury-hit Boks – missing 13 frontline players – recorded a first victory in Dublin since 2000 and ended a three-match losing streak.

South Africa survived a late Irish rally, which cut their lead from 23-9 after 63 minutes to 23-21, and completed the job with only 14 men following the 75th minute sin-binning of Bryan Habana.