South Africa 19-13 Ireland (Series SA 2-1 IRE)
Pietersen try, Jantjies 3 pens & 1 con, Combrinck pen
Marshall try, Jackson con & 2 pens for Ire
Ireland missed the chance to register a historic series win in South Africa with a narrow defeat in Port Elizabeth.
The three-match series was set up for a dramatic decider and it looked to be going Ireland's way as Luke Marshall scored after 17 minutes.
However, JP Pietersen gathered Elton Jantjies' precise cross-field kick to give the Springboks the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Ireland threatened late on but South Africa sealed the series 2-1.
The series had been set up for decider after 14-man Ireland won the first Test in Cape Town, their maiden victory in South Africa, before the Springboks bounced back to take the second in Johannesburg.
Joe Schmidt's Ireland side started positively in Port Elizabeth, with Marshall scoring after 13 phases, but they faded after the break and the long season of 17 international matches looked to have taken its toll before a late revival saw them pressing hard at the end, but in vain.
Should Le Roux have seen red?
Many felt Le Roux should have seen red for his reckless challenge on opposite number O'Halloran.
The Irishman landed heavily on his shoulders but referee Glen Jackson, in conjunction with the television match official, decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment.
In the first Test CJ Stander was red carded and subsequently banned for one match for an aerial collision with Pat Lambie.
Opportunity missed
The Springboks have Faf de Klerk to thank for keeping their record intact against Ireland.
Penalties from Jantjies and Ruan Combrinck, the latter from inside his own half, looked to have ended Ireland's challenge.
But three points from Paddy Jackson with 10 minutes remaining reduced the deficit to six points and a rejuvenated Ireland went close twice in the final five minutes.
On both occasions it was scrum-half De Klerk who intervened, first ending a 21-phase move with a crucial interception and then racing out of his line to put in a vital tackle on Keith Earls as the hooter went.
What's next?
Ireland coach Schmidt's third year in the job saw his side reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup and finish third in the Six Nations.
His contract runs until the summer of 2017, but he said he would decide whether to stay until the 2019 Rugby World Cup after the completion of this tour.
South Africa, who finished third at the World Cup, have two months off before the start of the Rugby Championship.
What they said
Ireland captain Rory Best told Sky Sports: "It's been a great series, a really tough series - exactly what we thought it would be. They're a top side. We came here to win a series, we've fallen short now twice, but six points shows how tight the games have been.
"Our boys have fought valiantly. Unfortunately in the last two Tests the Springboks have been a bit more clinical.
"A lot of people wrote us off before we came here but there are some really young players coming through. There are a lot boys to come in. The future of Irish rugby is really bright. We still think we're good enough to win series like that and eventually we'll take a look back to find out why we didn't."
Japan 16-21 Scotland (Series JPN 0-2 SCO)
Captain Greig Laidlaw came off the bench to rescue Scotland in Tokyo and give them a second victory against Japan to seal a 2-0 series win.
The deeply disjointed and rudderless visitors trailed 16-9 when Laidlaw entered the fray in the 50th minute.
They led 6-3 early on with two penalties from Henry Pyrgos but the hosts hit the front with a breathtaking 90m try finished by Kaito Shigeno.
But Laidlaw landed four kicks to avert a nightmarish end to Scotland's season.
Australia 40-44 England (Series AUS 0-3 ENG)
Foley, Haylett-Petty, Hooper, Folau, Naiyaravoro tries; Foley 3 cons & 3 pens for Aus
Cole, Watson, B Vunipola, George tries; Farrell 3 cons & 6 pens for Eng
England completed a series whitewash in Australia with victory in a pulsating third and final Test in Sydney.
The Wallabies led by a point at half-time courtesy of the boot of Bernard Foley, after Dan Cole and Mike Brown had crossed for England, and Foley and Dane Haylett-Petty for the hosts.
Michael Hooper and Israel Folau tries cancelled out a Billy Vunipola score.
But Owen Farrell's boot kept England in touch and Jamie George's try helped them to a record score and a 3-0 win.
Turning defence into attack
After their defensive heroics in the 23-7 second Test win last weekend the tourists were keen to show more of their attacking game in Sydney, and they duly delivered as what could have been a flat dead rubber turned in an epic encounter as both sides looked to move the ball at will.
It was not a day for the defence coaches as the sides shared nine tries between them, and in the end the difference probably came down to the narrow ascendancy of the English pack.
Shorn of the tackling machine James Haskell through injury, coach Eddie Jones turned to Teimana Harrison in his only change.
But the flanker was withdrawn after only half an hour, with Courtney Lawes coming into the second row, Maro Itoje moving to blind-side flanker and Chris Robshaw shifting to open-side.
And, with a steady supply of replacements reinforcing the visitors' eight, England finally killed the game off with five minutes remaining - the giant Taqele Naiyaravoro's try doing no more than applying late gloss to the scoreboard for the wounded Wallabies.
Sydney see-saw
The game was tit for tat from the opening stages, with England prop Cole finishing off from short range a move started by front row colleague Mako Vunipola's barrelling run, before Australia hit back as the loping Folau beat Jack Nowell down the left wing and linked with Matt Toomua to send Foley cruising over.
Haylett-Petty soon strode over out wide on the right for the hosts but England went back in front as Brown raced on to Anthony Watson's classy chip.
With Farrell landing his kicks the visitors looked set to lead at the break, but a late Foley penalty made it 18-17 at half-time.
England finally pull away
If the first half had been exciting, the second half was dizzying.
Billy Vunipola rampaged over from a five-metre scrum to put the visitors back into the lead, but Australia looked dangerous every time they managed to wrest the ball from England's grasp, and flanker Hooper stretched over before the Leicester-bound Toomua burst through in midfield and gave 6ft 5in Wallaby full-back Folau a run to the line.
Australia suddenly lead by four points with 20 minutes to go, but replacement hooker George dotted down for England's fourth try to put them back in front, and Farrell's accurate kicking ensured the tourists finally pulled away.
His 79th-minute penalty gave them a decisive nine-point lead and although Naiyaravoro had the final word, the Wallabies had already had to accept they had been whitewashed for the first time by England.
New Zealand 46-6 Wales (Series NZ 3-0 WAL)
Smith, Moala, Barrett 2, Coles, Dagg tries, Barrett 2 pens, 5 cons for NZ
Biggar 2 pens for Wales
New Zealand stretched their winning run over Wales to 29 games in 63 years with a commanding performance in Dunedin.
The tourists fought as hard as they had in losing the first two Tests, but the All Blacks were smarter in defence and sharper in attack.
First-half tries by wing Ben Smith and centre George Moala were followed by Beauden Barrett going over.
Fly-half Barrett added a second in a 26-point haul with hooker Dane Coles and Israel Dagg also touching down.
It finished as the fifth-largest winning margin for the All Blacks against Wales, the biggest a 55-3 hiding in 2003 when the tourists were coached by Steve Hansen.
Now a World Cup winner with his home country, Hansen made 12 changes for this game, five of them in the starting XV, and said the risks were worth the potential rewards.
But it proved no gamble as his side ruthlessly punished aspects of Wales' kicking game as the match wore on.
The frenetic start of the two previous Tests was repeated under a closed roof, but a lack of composure in possession affected both teams' efforts to break the defence.
It was left to rival kickers Dan Biggar and Barrett to put the first points on the board, the Welshman opening the scoring and adding a second after his counterpart's first success.
Early nerves were even evident in the opening try as Aaron Smith had to pick up off the floor a few metres out before providing a superb scoring pass to namesake Ben.
Even then, the All Blacks had to wait for the video referee to decide the right wing had touched down before a trailing knee had crossed the touchline under pressure from Hallam Amos.
Inaccurate Wales
Moala was denied by Liam Williams' desperate tackle but the centre finished off a sweeping counter-attack and Barrett's conversion gave the hosts a 12-point cushion at the break.
Barrett's pace brought New Zealand's next try - his second - and his superb pass put hooker Coles clear as Wales suffered for their inaccuracy with the boot out of hand.
As in Wellington seven days earlier, Wales attacked late on, but after their final flourish failed, Dagg raced 70 metres to complete the rout.
Warren Gatland's men were a clear second best and left without adding to their five-try tally from the first two Tests, while the hosts ended the series with 16.
What's next for Wales and the All Blacks?
New Zealand will begin to prepare for their defence of the Rugby Championship, in which they face Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
Wales can now look forward to some rest and recuperation having played 19 games including 18 Tests since August 2015, including the World Cup and Six Nations.
In the longer term their leading players - and coach Gatland - will be hoping they can return down under in 2017 with the British and Irish Lions.
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