Ireland send warning to Rugby World Cup rivals after ‘unsurprising’ victory over Springboks

Ireland coach Simon Easterby insists that their victory over the Springboks is “not a one-off” and has backed them to repeat that performance throughout the Rugby World Cup.

Andy Farrell’s men have impressed so far in this tournament, earning wins over Romania, Tonga and most latterly, world champions South Africa.

They defeated Jacques Nienaber’s team 13-8 to put them on course to top Pool B, where they will likely play the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.

The Irishmen still have to get past Scotland to make sure they finish at the summit of the group, but Easterby is confident that they can continue in the same manner.

Number one for a reason

“That (win over the Boks) was not a one-off,” he told reporters. “We’ve done it in New Zealand, we’ve done it in the autumn series last year against South Africa, so that doesn’t surprise us.

“I guess the level of physicality and the brutality of the game these days, that’s something that the players have got to get their heads around and to a man, they did that.

“You’ve got to make sure you enjoy these occasions.

“The support was incredible, and those of us who were lucky enough to be at the stadium will remember that type of support for a long time.”

Ireland displayed tremendous physicality, as well as technical expertise, especially in the scrum, to overcome the threat of South Africa in Paris on Saturday.

It does not necessarily get easier, though, with a talented Scotland side next up and three-time world champions New Zealand potentially after that.

Easterby is pleased with how the team is looking but admits that they still have areas of the game to improve on ahead of the big encounters coming up.

Confidence and belief

“There’s so much belief in what the players are doing. They pitch up time and time again,” he added.

“We got the reward (against South Africa), but there’s lots we could be better at, and that’s the feeling in the changing room.

“(We’re) really pleased with a lot of aspects of the performance, but we know we have to be better. The games will get tougher.

“There’s a few things that have gone on over the last couple of seasons that give the guys confidence and trust in what we’re doing.

“This is another stepping stone, I guess, towards what we all want to try to achieve over the next couple of weeks.

“We’re genuinely feeling that we can get better, and we need to get better as the competition goes on. There’s more in us, and we have to get better.”

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