LIVE: Aussie ace helps Ireland sink world champs

Johnny Sexton admits he wasn’t in the best shape for this contest having been out injured in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup.

The captain went off the field with eight minutes to go and had to watch the dying moments from the bench.

“I was struggling towards the latter half,” he said.

“I haven’t played too much rugby. It was a different pace of the game to the first two.”

Nevertheless, it’s a big win for Ireland who look likely to face New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

“It’s a huge day for Ireland,” said Sexton.

“This crowd, it’s incredible how many people turned up today. I don’t know how we do it time after time, but we didn’t want to let them down.

“It was a scrappy old game. We couldn’t seem to get into any flow, neither could they. It was a real arm wrestle.

“Fair play to South Africa, they made the game so tough to play. We’re delighted to get the win.”