WAKE-UP CALL FOR BOKS

VICTOR MATFIELD has challenged South Africa to heed their World Cup warning after their defeat in Ireland. The 37-year-old lock dominated the line-out in Dublin while the Springboks pummelled Ireland at the scrum, but a host of handling errors scuppered a series of gilt-edged chances. Captain Jean de Villiers lamented the catalogue of ‘basic, grade-one’ mistakes while head coach Heyneke Meyer admitted he will know the majority of his World Cup 2015 squad by the end of the November tour. But Matfield said his side must hit back against England on Saturday or face changes. ‘I think this is a wake-up call for us, there are one or two adjustments we need to make, especially in wet conditions,’ said Matfield. ‘The World Cup is still a year away and in the build-up to 2007 we had a big loss against France but we still went on to win the competition. ‘We made too many mistakes and one or two bad decisions as well.’ Referring to last month’s Springboks victory over the All Blacks, Matfield added: ‘Everyone was singing the praises of this team. One match later we are under huge pressure going to Twickenham.’ Ireland’s master tactician, head coach Joe Schmidt, had devised clear strategies to negate South Africa’s driving maul and deny the visitors any tempo. That frustrated South Africa with Rhys Ruddock and Tommy Bowe grabbing the pivotal tries and Johnny Sexton kicking 16 points. Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw (right), part of the new centre partnership with Jared Payne who was filling the shirt of retired legend Brian O’Driscoll, said: ‘To win was certainly a tough task. It is a really good start (to life without O’Driscoll).’