Meyer left with plenty to ponder

In the lead-up to facing Ireland anyone wearing a Springbok tracksuit proclaimed that the Autumn tour to Ireland, Britain and Italy was the beginning of their World Cup preparation and not an isolated sequence of games.

By that measurement, Saturday’s 29-15 loss to Ireland at the Aviva represented a stark wake-up call for the Springboks. Happy memories of victories on the sun-baked highveld were brutally erased by a dominant Ireland on a damp and cold night.

There are only seven games remaining for the Boks before next year’s showpiece in England, and only three left to play in the northern hemisphere on this tour. From a relatively comfortable position after beating the All Blacks at Ellis Park in October, the peformance against Ireland has raised more questions than coach Heyneke Meyer would have liked.