Ireland v South Africa Player reaction: Sometimes it's simply down to aptitude and attitude, facilitated by clever use of personnel. Andrew Trimble and Shane Horgan may have spent most of their formative years playing in the centre but at Lansdowne Road on Saturday they produced towering performances on the left and right wings respectively.

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan is shrewd enough to realise that both can have a huge impact if their roles are not mired in orthodoxy. Trimble took a beautifully weighted inside pass from Ronan O'Gara for his try, while Horgan revelled in the spaces created by the midfield combination of Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll.

Horgan entered the line at sundry angles to devastating effect, in what can only be construed as an intelligent application of his talent. The player deserves great credit but so too the coach.

The fluidity and flexibility of Ireland's back line allows players to interchange positions and roles, and for the opposition it must be so difficult to counter.

The Leinster wing was also rewarded with a try but modestly deflected the kudos.

"It was multiphase," he said. "It was something that came into our game today and was really good. We were all very proud of that. It's something that we've been working on.

"It's very often the case that when there's a break, someone tries to throw a 50-50 (pass) and it's intercepted and you end up down the other end of the field. When we made line breaks today we did pretty well and recycled the ball.

"A lot of our tries came from that situation when we went through multiphases after making the initial line break.

"The ball came out and it was just brilliant by Drico (O'Driscoll), something he's been working on. He did it in the Edinburgh game with his left hand - right hand today.

"The poor guy he was running against was still looking at him (O'Driscoll) when the ball was in my hands.

"It was a brilliant piece of skill from him and a jog in for me. It's one of those days when you think it's great to have that guy in the team."

While any victory over the Springboks is an obvious source of pleasure, Horgan delighted in the way the match unfolded in difficult, blustery weather.

"It was really enjoyable, the nature of the game, to some extent. Conditions were difficult, very windy, and it can be difficult to realise that when you're in the stand.

"It was a case of if you were standing out on your wing, you're not going to get any ball. I tried to get in as much as I could to get my hands on it.

"It's very enjoyable at the moment, the way we're playing, as we are constantly trying to keep the ball alive. You tend to get your hands on the ball a bit more if the phases are high."

The victory?

"I think it was up there. We're certainly not the finished article. There is a long way to go with this team. We gave away points in the second half that we shouldn't have done.

"I thought that they posed a threat to us on very few occasions. For that reason it was disappointing we gave away the points we did.

"We had probably had more opportunities to score tries, certainly in the first half and even in the second, that we could have finished. We had a good win but we have set the bar high for ourselves. It's our first match of the season and we're very happy with the win but we aren't patting each other on the back just yet.

"It's still early in the season. It's a huge year and there's going to be highs and lows so we just need to keep the disparity between them to as little as possible and try and keep a high standard for as much (of the season) as possible.

"It's going to be a huge test against Australia as they play a very different game from South Africa, giving you fewer chances of line breaks.

"They're very solid in defence and they defend differently from South Africa. They are a very smart team and are always very well prepped. I think it will be a cagier game."

In cataloguing Ireland's clashes with Tri-Nations teams in the last decade the physical discrepancy has always been striking. Saturday provided empathic proof that the gap is closing.

Horgan admitted: "I think there is still a bit of a gap there. We have taken huge strides forward in the last year and that's a credit to our fitness staff both in the provinces and with Mikey McGurn in the Irish squad.

"We are developing - we're no longer being bullied by opposition - but as the summer showed, we are just not quite up there. Our plan is to be up there for the World Cup.

"I don't know the last time an Irish team were favourites playing Southern Hemisphere opposition and that's healthy.

"What comes with that is responsibility and we have to perform and we have to get results against these teams. We can't go backwards and just be happy with performing well or losing close games: we have to beat them, win the matches."

Maturity and perspective on and off the field; it augurs well for Horgan and for Ireland.