After an incredible performance for 81-and-a-half minutes, 14-man Ireland were on the cusp of their first ever victory in South Africa.
They had played an hour with 14 men after CJ Stander's controversial red card on his first return to the land of his birth, with a 10-minute spell in between seeing Ireland reduced a man further - Robbie Henshaw, on that occasion, being banished by French referee Mathieu Raynal.
Trailing 26-20 with the clock long-since red, the Springboks bashed their way towards the Irish 22, and a sweeping move saw space open up on the left-hand side.
For Irish fans, the mind immediately wandered to the Aviva Stadium in 2013, when a last-gasp Ryan Crotty score broke Irish hearts and denied Irish rugby a historic victory over the All-Blacks in the process.
This evening, however, Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw, backed by Paddy Jackson and - just to be sure - Rhys Ruddock, were having absolutely none of it, as the four Irishmen harried the on-rushing JP Pieterson into the dead ball area as he crossed the whitewash. 'Not today, son.'
Raynal, who hardly covered himself in glory in Cape Town, felt it necessary to go to the TMO, and in truth, the replays simply made it look that bit more glorious.
