Tony Ward: Ireland’s first Test defeat to South Africa was much more than a moral victory
Ireland's Caelan Doris is tackled by South African duo Damian de Allende and Vincent Koch. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Like many others, I feared the worst ahead of Saturday’s opening Test against South Africa. Not because they are the world champions, playing on their home patch and at altitude, but because of the bad blood that has developed between the two nations recently.
In the wider scheme, we should take it as a compliment given the size of our little island, in relative rugby-playing terms, to be consistently competing now with the superpowers of the global game.
