In 1998 Ireland toured South Africa for the first time in 17 years. They came with a young and inexperienced side to face a team who were on a 6 match winning streak and fresh off a European tour in 1997 where records were shattered.
The first test was played at the Freestate stadium in Bloemfontein and Ireland put up a decent fight for the first 60 minutes of the match.
The Springboks were too strong though and easily won the game 37 – 13 with Stefan Terblanche scoring four tries on his debut.
This game set the Boks up nicely for the rest of the 1998 season when they would go on to win the Tri-Nations for the first time.
