RUGBY: Autumn InternationalsAs encouragement gave way to a feeling of anti-climax, you came away from the Aviva on Saturday evening with the thought that if this is a transition to a new dawn then the clouds might not lift entirely any time soon. The Irish camp could have a few quibbles with the view of the game in Wayne Barnes' world, but they couldn't really have any about the outcome.

Ireland were credited with 60 per cent of the possession and almost 60 per cent of the territory, and along with the energy and enthusiasm, there was thought and ideas in the way they sought to suck in the Boks’ backrow off shortened line-outs, attacked either way with Jonny Sexton and Simon Zebo in a straight line behind scrums, and in their use of decoy runners and trailers.

At times they were a little too lateral or deep, and lacking ballast up front, manfully though they huffed and puffed Ireland never looked like blowing down the typically sturdy Springbok defence.

Hence, encouragingly though Simon Zebo ran and well though Tommy Bowe played, not only did Ireland not score a point in the second-half, they didn’t really create one clear try scoring opportunity and nor, did they truly look as if they would.

After earning a 12-3 interval lead only to suffer a fifth successive defeat – albeit three of them away to the best team in the world – perhaps too there is a deficit in belief.

Declan Kidney attributed it more to acquiring more experience of Test matches. “They take approximately five twists in every game, and for fellas to learn from that experience, that what we were doing in the first-half today, say, wouldn’t necessarily apply in the second half, and that we have to come out with the smarts to make sure that it doesn’t happen. But that’s not through lack of effort, that’s through experience.”

“So they definitely haven’t forgotten how to win, they’re still confident in what they’re trying to do; it’s just a frustration. And I know they’re going to click. We have had ourselves in some situations like that alright and they’ve gone against but you just have to stay the pace with it, because then you know it will turn. It’s a learning process, it’s a tough one but like I’ve said before, I’ve been down this road before and I know how it twists, but they have to twist it themselves.”

In particular Kidney highlighted the way Ireland conceded field position in the pivotal early stages of the second half. The ‘championship minutes’ either side of the interval were doubled by the yellow cards for JP Pietersen and Jamie Heaslip. Ireland couldn’t punish Pietersen’s sinbining in a scoreless ten minutes, whereas South Africa scored ten unanswered points in the ten minutes Heaslip was off the pitch. And so 12-3 became 12-13.

Yet there’s something wrong with the game when one act of skulduggery amongst a rap sheet that incorporated 11 penalties merits the same punishment as a case of ‘fringing’ at a line-out maul when it’s only the sixth penalty against that team after more than 40 minutes.

Punches, headlocks and even a possible attempted head butt blithely carried on under the noses of the officials, and in the first-half the Springboks were in a particularly ill-disciplined and spiteful mood. Yet when James Heaslip validly highlighted Willem Alberts dropping his knee into a prostrate Jonny Sexton after the whistle Barnes informed the Irish captain that the persistence of his complaints “lacked credibility”.

That Scotland were buried under the latest mix of All Blacks’ brilliance by 51-22 yesterday means that Ireland’s top eight ranking and with it a second tier seeding for the World Cup draw is not under immediate threat.

That said, Argentina’s excellent 26-12 win away to a woeful Wales means the rendezvous with them in a fortnight’s time looms large, as it did in the November window prior to the World Cup draw four years ago.

Depending on how the Pumas go against France in Lille next Saturday, and Scotland at home to the Springboks, the possibility remains that Ireland and Argentina might yet merely be scrapping over seventh and eighth seedings; a relative minor detail in the greater scheme of things. Either way though, this team needs a win to come away from their latest month together with a feel good factor.

With those dastardly Pumas in mind, Declan Kidney might be in even more inclined to rest up some of his front-liners for next Saturday’s non-Test meeting with Fiji in Thomond Park, and he admitted he would have to weigh up the workload of players such as Cian Healy and Mike McCarthy, as well as the desire to invest in players such as Luke Marshall.

“I have that plan in my mind but Luke has come in and there’s an onus on us to plan for the future as well but you have to get a few wins under your belt right now then too leading into the Six Nations.

“So it would be handy to get two wins now to give us a bit of momentum into the Six Nations. But Luke has trained with us for the last fortnight and he’ll definitely be one of the fellas in the mix as will the whole squad that we brought in.They’ve gone about their business well.”

While it might be an opportunity to give Jamie Heaslip another run as captain the expectation must be then that as well as Luke Marshall, players such as Seán Cronin, Michael Bent, Dan Tuohy, Paul Marshall, Paddy Jackson and Darren Cave will be given a run, with a strong bench comprised mostly of players who started last Saturday.

But there will be no return for any of the absent front-liners, with Kidney confirming that Paul O’Connell will not be involved against Argentina.