Andrew Trimble is tackled by 'Boks debutant Bevin Fortuin as he gets over the line for Ireland's opening try, five minutes in. The 22-year-old Trimble, however, was forced off with a tight hamstring in the second half and may miss next weekend's clash with Australia.
Trimble, seen here celebrating with Brian O'Driscoll, romped over for his try after taking a lovely pop pass from Ronan O'Gara. The Ulster flyer said afterwards: "When you're playing South Africa in front of a packed house at Lansdowne Road, there is no way you are not going to enjoy it.
"The way we played in the first half was unreal. We produced some quality rugby and everybody was enjoying themselves."
O'Driscoll and Trimble are surely two of the most deadly backs in world rugby. Between them, the pair have now scored 33 tries in 78 Test matches. O'Driscoll remains Ireland's record try scorer with 28, with his Leinster team-mate Denis Hickie, who has been called up as precautionary cover for Trimble for the Australian game, behind him on 25.
The usually mild-mannered Trimble lets go of his emotions as he celebrates in front of the South Terrace at Lansdowne Road. It is almost a year to the day that the Ballymena clubman made his debut for Ireland as a centre in the 30-14 defeat to Australia at headquarters.
Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies combine to dump Ireland winger Shane Horgan in a tackle. Thanks to his score on Saturday, Horgan has joined Brendan Mullin on 17 tries in the list of Ireland's all-time top try scorers, meaning the Drogheda man is now joint-third behind his Leinster colleagues Denis Hickie (25) and Brian O'Driscoll (28).
Horgan said after the South African game: "That performance from us was definitely up there, but we're not the finished article. There's a long way to go for this team. We gave away points in the second half which we shouldn't have done and we had opportunities to score more tries.
"We had a good win but we have set the bar high for ourselves. It's a starting block."
Ireland lock Paul O'Connell is right in the thick of the action as he competes for possession with South African trio Danie Rossouw, Albert van den Berg and Juan Smith.
Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll lays the ball off under pressure from Francois Steyn and Jean de Villiers. O'Driscoll is closing in on Kevin Maggs' record as Ireland's most-capped centre. The South African game took O'Driscoll's caps tally to 68, just two behind the Ulster-contracted Maggs.
Juan Smith can only look on as flanker David Wallace races in from the right wing to touch down behind the posts for Ireland's second try. Wallace's Munster team-mate Ronan O'Gara dubbed the try: "the best try we have scored, maybe, in the last five or six years." Denis Leamy, Trimble, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy and Horgan were all involved in the build-up to the score.
Andrew Trimble is tackled to ground by South African centre Jean de Villiers. The Stormers midfielder, 25, bounced back from sustaining a rib injury against Scotland in June to play a leading role in the 'Boks' last three games in 2006 Tri-Nations campaign, which saw them claim home wins over both New Zealand and Australia.
Lock Paul O'Connell, seen here being tackled by Juan Smith, wants Ireland to keep Saturday's victory in perspective as attention turns to this week's visit of the Wallabies to Dublin.
The Munster captain said: "Look at what England did when they won the World Cup - they developed the habit of beating these Southern Hemisphere teams. They learned how to do it and got the experience of doing it. That's what we are trying to do.
"Next week is massive for us, that we do something again. This (win over South Africa) was one of our best performances but we have to keep it in perspective. The Australian game will be very different. Australia are, in my opinion, the best defensive team in the world."
Ronan O'Gara is confronted by a bandaged Ricky Januarie. Irish out-half O'Gara, 29, put his mark all over Saturday's Test with his excellent distribution and assured kicking but in the aftermath, he was still wrankled by a missed tackle.
The Corkman said: "Australia beat us last time, but that was at the end of our season. We're fresh now and looking forward to it. We'e definitely on the right road, but next Sunday will be a different kettle of fish again.
"There's a few of us a small bit disappointed with the fact that we gave South Africa two soft scores. I missed a terrible tackle on (Jean) de Villiers and that's my abiding memory of this game. That's just me because I'm very hard on myself. I've always backed myself, and I just have to show the consistency against the top teams."
**All photos by Inpho Photography**
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