All Blacks legends Jeff Wilson and Mils Muliaina say the Springboks’ suffocating physicality and composure under pressure were the decisive factors in Saturday night’s 24-13 win over Ireland in Dublin.

They’ve hailed the world champions as “clearly the number one team in the world”.

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Speaking on The Breakdown, former All Blacks wing Jeff Wilson said the Boks produced a performance that went up a notch at the Aviva Stadium.

“This was at a next level. And the reason there was all those yellow cards is because South Africa turned it up physically. And the fact that Ireland were just under the pump, their scrum was under the pump,” Wilson said.

“They did an unbelievable job of staying in the game. South Africa should have put them away three or four times in the first half. They didn’t manage to do that and then it was in the balance. But when South Africa put the screws on, they’re just so intimidating.

“They went a little bit old school when they needed to and went back to some of the things we know they can do. It’s like we just want to win this game and so all of a sudden they just suffocated Ireland. The world rankings tell us that they are clearly the number one team in the world and everyone is chasing.”

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Fellow All Blacks centurion Mils Muliaina echoed that sentiment, saying the Springboks’ depth and calmness under pressure set them apart.

“The Springboks have probably got five teams right now, and the evidence of that is the game against the Irish. They didn’t panic. They should have blown them away when they had two guys in the in the bin. They didn’t. But did they panic? No,” Muliaina said.

“They went back to their old school stuff, you know. So, they understand to roll back to that. Everyone’s aligned.”

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