Ireland are one step closer to reaching the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals following their 13-8 victory over South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday.

The Irish are in first place in their pool and will play their last game against Scotland in two weeks. The Springboks are in second place and will play Tonga in their last game next weekend.

The Springboks’ streak of six wins in a row came to an end, while Ireland’s record-setting streak of 16 wins in a row went on.

The match between the two best teams in the world did not disappoint. It is possible that they will meet again in the final on October 28.

Most of the crowd cheered for Ireland, which Mack Hansen, who scored a try for Ireland, said helped the team win.

“It was pretty much like the Grand Slam on steroids out there,” he said. “It was incredible and we needed every single one of them out there tonight to get the job done against a really good South African team.”

Early Irish pressure led to a penalty, but Sexton ended up regretting his choice.

The Irish captain went for touch instead of taking what seemed like a sure three points, as the Springboks won the line-up and cleared the ball, putting pressure on the Irish.

When the Irish broke the rules, South Africa didn’t do the same. Instead, they took the three points when Manie Libbok kicked the ball over.

The Irish lineout was all over the place, and they lost four in a row because of how Ronan Kelleher threw.

Hugo Keenan made a great run, and they were only a metre from the try line when Kelleher made a bad pass.

Kelleher knocked on the door and got a pat on the head as comfort. He looked like he needed something stronger at that point.

Another lost lineout gave the Springboks a scrum close to the Ireland line because Kelleher was having a bad night.

The Irish were lucky to get out of trouble. When Jesse Kriel passed the ball to Siya Kolisi, it hit the captain’s head and went into Caelan Doris’s hands.

With his 50th cap, Bundee Aki gave the Irish their best stretch of the game so far, which led to a lung-busting break into the Springboks’ 22.

This time, the Irish got points and took the lead because Sexton again went for touch instead of the posts.

The long pass from James Lowe went to Hansen, who was alone on the right wing. The Australian-born flyer sped over but landed dangerously close to the deadball line.

With six minutes left until halftime, Sexton added the extras to make the score 7–3.

Early in the second half, Faf de Klerk shot at the goal from inside his own half, but the ball hit the bar.

As the South Africans pushed from inside the Irish 22-yard line, Sexton and Aki told the Irish fans to make more noise.

When the Springboks were given a penalty a few metres from the Ireland line, they chose to have a scrum. They did what the Springboks said.

New forwards gave the Springboks a boost, and the decision paid off when they spread the ball out and Libbok found Kolbe all by himself. Kolbe went over.

But Libbok missed the extra point, giving the Boks an 8-7 lead.

Kolisi was taken off the team, and Kelleher’s nightmare was over when Dan Sheehan was moved on.

The back and forth kept going as Sexton went for the goal and made a penalty kick to give the Irish a 10-8 lead.

When Damian Willemse knocked over the fullback and threw the ball to the ground, South African anger came to the surface.

Before the game, Libbok’s kicking at goal had been a problem, and it cost him again when he missed a penalty with 16 minutes left.

“Obviously in a game like this you have to take your points and you have to convert pressure into points. Unfortunately we didn’t get it right,” Libbok admitted.

De Klerk took another shot from inside his own half, but it also missed the goal.

The Boks charged into Irish territory, and when they were given a penalty, they tried to start a scrum. However, the Irish didn’t give up and cleared the ball.

Sexton was replaced by Jack Crowley, who kicked a penalty in front of the posts to make the score 13-8. The crowd went crazy when Sexton left the pitch.

A few minutes later, when they turned over a Springbok scrum, the Irish couldn’t hold back their joy. This meant that they had won a memorable game.

Photo by Dave Winter/INPHO/Shutterstock