Ireland: Victory over Springboks only a 'good start' to season, says Andy Farrell
- Published
Ireland have won seven of their nine matches in 2022
Andy Farrell says Ireland's pulsating win over South Africa is no more than "a good start to our season".
The Irish head coach played down the idea that the 19-16 win will have any bearing when the sides meet again at next year's World Cup.
Farrell's team remain top of the world rankings with their victory over the Springboks, backing up their recent series win in New Zealand.
"It's a start to our season and we move on to next week," he said.
"There's so many different permutations that can happen along the way and I've no doubt that South Africa are going to get better leading into the World Cup.
"They're pretty good at getting their timing right.
"It's nice to play them, it's certainly nice to play them after five years to see how we're handling the different types of pressure that they throw at us."
Ireland were forced to overcome three first-half injuries, with Farrell hopeful that knocks picked up by Stuart McCloskey and Tadhg Furlong are not as serious as first feared.
The teams went into half-time level before Ireland scored two tries, by Josh van der Flier and Mack Hansen, in a blistering start to the second half that saw them take control of the game.
They host Fiji next week before concluding their autumn series against Australia, after which attentions will turn to the Six Nations before the World Cup.
"It's a good start to the year, that's it really," reflected captain Johnny Sexton.
"We won a Triple Crown last year but we want to do something in the Six Nations.
"We talk about the World Cup but we're a good bit away, we need to stay present and try to keep winning.
"You don't get many chances in an Irish jersey and you want to win when you're in one so we need to keep building.
"We'll learn a lot for the World Cup and I'm sure they will as well because they stopped us at times."