Ireland wrote another famous chapter in their wonderful recent history by beating South Africa on their Olympic debut.

The Green Army took a 2-0 win over the African continental champions to make a dream start to their first ever Olympic title challenge.

It was a dominant display from Ireland, who took the lead in the first quarter thanks to Roisin Upton’s perfectly placed penalty corner drag-flick.

Sarah Torrans ensured victory for her team with an instinctive overhead volley, finding a way past onrushing goalkeeper Phumelela Mbande.  

Ireland goal-scorer Sarah Torrans said: “It’s such a relief to get a win there. We’re just here, having a load of fun and dreaming of being in the Olympics and to finally get over the line in our first game is incredible. It’s just great to get a good start.”

Next up for Ireland is a date against the Netherlands on Monday after the world number one side saw off India 5-1 with four second half goals

Felice Albers put the Oranje ahead early with a close-range finish before India captain Rani tore up the script, netting with a speculative strike from the edge of the circle. T

he score remained tied at 1-1 until a three-goal blitz from the Dutch put the result beyond all doubt, with Margot van Geffen, a second for Albers and a fine backhand strike from Frederique Matla took the score to 4-1. The scoring was completed by Caia van Maasakker, who bagged a trademark penalty corner. 

Talking about scoring her first Olympic goal in her third Olympics, Margot van Geffen said: “Finally. After a long time. It’s cool, it’s a great start but it’s not what I’m here for. You know what I’m here for. It’s a good start, a 5-1 win, and now we get ready for the next game.”