In Ireland's two most recent southern hemisphere tours, series victories were secured despite losing the first Test - but in South Africa that is not possible.
In Ireland's two most recent southern hemisphere tours, series victories were secured despite dropping the first Test.
After a 27-20 loss that came courtesy of a decidedly rusty first half, Andy Farrell's side are left with no margin for error if they are to salvage anything from this series against the number one-ranked side in the game. Robbie Henshaw and Dan Sheehan were both replaced at half-time, while Craig Casey and Jamie Osborne departed in the second half, the former stretchered off after striking his head on the turf.
Against arguably the widest talent pool in the game however, any loss of depth is sure to be keenly felt.Farrell described his side as "off" in the immediate aftermath of the defeat and, while the Springboks were certainly deserving of their win, Ireland will rue the fact that two of their opponent's three tries were wholly avoidable.
The Leinster wing, who did create Jamie Osborne's first-half score and had one of his own chalked off by the TMO, had another serious misjudgement in the final minutes as he misplayed a restart that had looked set to go dead, giving South Africa the scrum that ultimately led to a crucial penalty try.
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