South Africa v Ireland: The past five battles

We take a look back on the last five meetings between Ireland and South Africa, ahead of Saturday's clash in Cape Town...

Ireland 32-15 South Africa (Lansdowne Road, 11 Nov 2006)

Jake White's Springboks arrived in the northern hemisphere in desperate need of a win. The Boks had beaten the All Blacks and Australia in the home legs of the Tri Nations but had suffered heavy defeats away, including a 49-0 loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane.

That season's end-of-year tour was an iconic one for the South Africans, wearing a commemorative jersey in Dublin to mark the 100-year anniversary of the first Springbok tour in their history.

However, the sentimental nature of the occasion was lost on Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland, who thundered to a 22-3 half-time lead thanks to tries from Andrew Trimble, David Wallace and Marcus Horan as the Springboks struggled to claw their way into the game.

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The Boks hit back in the second half, with Francois Steyn crossing on debut and Bryan Habana racing clear to bring the tourists within 10 points with six minutes remaining.

But a dominant Irish side sealed the victory when a flick out the back of the hand from Brian O'Drsicoll released Shane Horgan down the right touchline for a comfortable victory that piled more woe on White and his men.

Ireland 15-10 South Africa (Croke Park, 28 Nov 2009)

It was a completely different Springbok beast that arrived in Ireland at the end of 2009. South Africa were world champions, beat the British and Irish Lions 2-1 earlier in the year, and whitewashed the All Blacks 3-0 during the Tri Nations. The third-Test loss to the Lions and defeat to the Wallabies in Brisbane were the only blemishes ahead of their end of year tour to Europe.

Yet Ireland's record was even better than that of their visitors. A Six Nations Grand Slam opened their account in 2009 before a tense draw with Australia two weeks prior to the Boks' arrival marked the only game of 2009 they failed to win.

The best of the southern hemisphere came to do battle with the best of the northern hemisphere. It was billed as a giant clash, and it may have been had the weather that met the two sides not been utterly atrocious.

Misty conditions marred the contest but the one shining light was Johnny Sexton. Preferred to Ronan O'Gara, who was dropped for the first time in six years, Sexton adapted to conditions better than his opposite number to guide his side to victory.

Schalk Burger scored the only try of the game after running a good line off Jaque Fourie to hand the Boks a 10-3 lead inside the half hour before Sexton launched the fightback, wrestling away the Boks' lead then nosing Ireland ahead to claim the spoils. His kicking performance even drew a grudging smile from O'Gara.

Ireland 21-23 South Africa (Aviva Stadium, 6 Nov 2010)

Neither side was in particularly good form in 2010. Ireland were beaten by France and Scotland in the Six Nations before losing to New Zealand and Australia during the summer tours.

South Africa had also lost to their southern hemisphere neighbours - badly. Three losses to the All Blacks and two to the Wallabies left the Boks rooted at the bottom of the Tri Nations table in 2010.

The Boks arrived on the back of one win from the last six games, while Ireland were three defeats from the last three outings - a far cry from the build-up to the previous year's clash.

South Africa edged to a 13-6 lead at half-time, with a Juan Smith intercept try separating the teams after Sexton and Morne Steyn slotted two penalties each.

The fly-halves traded a penalty apiece in the second half before Gio Aplon took the ball on a switch from Zane Kirchner to score under the poles and give the Boks a 23-9 lead with 15 minutes left.

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Sexton then put in a chip kick that landed perfectly for Tommy Bowe who reduced the deficit by seven with a try, before Ireland piled on more pressure with a Rob Kearney score from an overlap down the right.

The full-back was unable to run the try in close to the poles, and replacement fly-half O'Gara missed the conversion to leave the Boks two points ahead. Despite a Bryan Habana yellow card five minutes from time, the South Africans were able to hold out for the win.

Ireland 12-16 South Africa (Aviva Stadium, 10 Nov 2012)

Ireland and South Africa continued their close encounters; 2012's outcome was decided by five points or less for the third consecutive time.

Ireland were off to a very strong start in a subdued opening 30 minutes. Four penalties from Sexton had Ireland 12-3 ahead when things went from bad to worse for South Africa as JP Pietersen was shown a yellow card for tackling Chris Henry without the ball.

But Ireland were unable to capitalise on the man-advantage, scoring no further points in the first half, leaving them nine points up as Pietersen returned to the action early in the second half.

The Springboks came out in force after the break, utilising the driving maul effectively from the outset. It bore fruit immediately, with the pressure seeing Jamie Heaslip sent to the bin for illegally stopping a maul close to his line.

Unlike their hosts, South Africa were able to make the extra man count, with Ruan Pienaar diving over from close range for a try before a Lambie penalty put the Boks 13-12 up.

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Sexton then had a chance to reclaim the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but left the penalty attempt short, before Lambie suffered the same fate with a chance in the 67th minute.

The Bok fly-half made no such mistake in the 69th minute, extending his side to a four-point lead which Ireland were unable to overturn.

Ireland 29-15 South Africa (Aviva Stadium, 8 Nov 2014)

Ireland learned from the mistakes of the previous fixture between these teams and did their homework on the Springbok driving maul.

Defensively Joe Schmidt's men were outstanding on the day, with Jack McGrath in particular doing the work to disrupt the potent Bok weapon. As a result the home side were able to strangle the life out of a Springbok side limited in ideas.

A 6-3 lead at half-time didn't give Ireland much, but they made up for it after the break, with Sexton converting Rhys Ruddock's try two minutes from the restart for a 13-3 advantage.

The Boks hit back with a try of their own through Marcell Coetzee, but Sexton's pinpoint boot pushed the home side further away for a 19-10 lead before a magnificent Tommy Bowe try handed Ireland an insurmountable edge.

A Madigan penalty and a Pietersen try followed, but Bowe's try had sealed the fate of the tourists.