We were by a long way, second best - Trimble

Cape Town - Ireland winger Andrew Trimble says Ireland should learn from last week's 32-26 defeat to the Boks as they prepare for the last Test.

Ireland play South Africa in Port Elizabeth on Saturday in their final game of the three-Test series, where either side could take it. 

The Ulster winger said that although the loss was tough, they know what to expect from South Africa when they get going.

"We're probably more aware now than we ever have been with how tough it's going to be, how physical they are, how fast South Africa are," Trimble said.

"Physically, we were by a long way, second best during that second half. We didn't win any collisions and a few boys are still feeling a few of those hits today so we're licking our wounds a little bit but we're looking forward to getting back out there and putting a few of those wrongs right."

The 31-year old believes that Ireland are a great side and need to show that in the last Test. 

"We're aware that we can be a quality side and win Test matches. We can come to the southern hemisphere and win games, but there's no point in us talking about that, we need to prove that and back that talk up," Trimble said.

"We did that in Newlands, we showed an awful lot of character and dug in. We played some really good rugby that we're really proud of, but to be taken seriously, you need to back that up and we didn't do that at the weekend."