World champions South Africa and Six Nations winners Ireland will lock horns in the second Test of this month at Kingspark Stadium in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
South Africa secured a long-awaited 27-20 victory over the Irish at Loftus Versfeld last weekend, and with that result, pulled over four points clear at the top of the world rankings.
Match preview
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Springbok fans filled up Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria last week and their team did not disappoint, demonstrating their superiority to claim their first victory against the mighty Ireland in eight years.
That victory followed three consecutive Test defeats to the Shamrocks and was also head coach Rassie Erasmus' first win over the nation where he worked for 18 months as Munster's director of rugby.
However, the game delivered several pivotal TMO decisions that heavily impacted the final score, with a James Lowe try for Ireland being overturned, while a Cheslin Kolbe try for South Africa was upheld. Despite this, the overwhelming consensus was that all the decisions on the day were correct.
Both teams scored three tries in a closely contested match on the highveld, where wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kolbe crossed the line for South Africa, and a penalty try was awarded by English referee Luke Pearce.
While the Springboks held off a late surge by Ireland to secure victory, it was evident in the first half that they carried greater threat and tactics, which adds another layer to their already potent game plan under new attack coach Tony Brown.
South Africa have made a bit of a habit of underperforming in between major tournaments such as the World Cup and Rugby Championship, but the decision to go with an unchanged squad for this match perhaps confirms that they are leaving nothing to chance in this one.
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Ireland struggled during the opening exchanges of the first Test, and Andy Farrell openly admitted after the match that he felt the side made too many unforced mistakes in the first 40 in Pretoria.
The Shamrocks were clearly much better in the second half, though, and will look to level the series this weekend as they did in their last two visits to the Southern Hemisphere against Australia in 2018 and New Zealand in 2022.
Unfortunately for Farrell's side, around the 50th minute, just when his side was starting their comeback last week, Irish players would have glanced at the sideline to see six Springbok forwards unleashed into the game.
The Bomb Squad provided the hosts with a rejuvenated pack that included a fresh tight five, which outlasted the Irish, who were only 13-8 down at the break and building up a head of steam.
Nevertheless, Ireland refused to give up, and with South Africa down to 14 men after Arendse was yellow-carded, Ryan Baird scored in the corner two minutes from time, reducing the winning margin to seven points.
South Africa form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Ireland form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
Team News
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As mentioned, Erasmus seems to be leaving nothing to chance here and has named the most experienced staring lineup in Springbok history, which includes a total of 990 caps between the players selected.
The Boks head coach has maintained faith in the same 23 from last week's victory, with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel set to line up in midfield for the 30th time, which will make them the most-capped centre pairing in the Green and Gold.
Farrell has been forced into a few changes here, starting with the introduction of Ronan Kelleher for Dan Sheehan, who could be out for an extended period after sustaining an injury last weekend while attempting to tackle Eben Etzebeth.
Debutant full-back Jamie Osborne and centre Robbie Henshaw have shaken off their knocks to feature this week, but scrum-half Craig Casey was unable to do likewise and will be replaced by Conor Murray this weekend.
South Africa starting lineup: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Ireland starting lineup: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey
We say: South Africa 30-24 Ireland
Returning to a lower altitude, we are expecting to see the ball in hand much more this weekend. While Ireland did well to remain in the tie last week, the Springboks' experience was the determining factor and considering they are unchanged this week, we are expecting a similar outcome.
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Devesh Jaganath
