South Africa vs. Ireland Showdown in Durban
World champions South Africa and Six Nations winners Ireland are set to clash in the second Test of this month in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
South Africa secured a long-awaited 27-20 victory over Ireland at Loftus Versfeld last weekend, pulling over four points clear at the top of the world rankings. Springbok fans filled Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, and their team delivered, claiming their first victory against Ireland in eight years.
This win broke a streak of three consecutive Test defeats to Ireland and marked head coach Rassie Erasmus’ first triumph over the nation where he previously worked as Munster’s director of rugby. The match featured several pivotal TMO decisions, including the overturning of a James Lowe try for Ireland and the upholding of a Cheslin Kolbe try for South Africa. Despite these decisions, the consensus was that they were correct.
Both teams scored three tries in a closely contested match, with wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kolbe crossing the line for South Africa, and a penalty try awarded by English referee Luke Pearce. The Springboks held off a late surge by Ireland to secure victory, demonstrating their greater threat and tactics in the first half under new attack coach Tony Brown.
South Africa’s decision to field an unchanged squad for this match indicates their determination to leave nothing to chance. Ireland, meanwhile, struggled in the opening exchanges of the first Test, with head coach Andy Farrell admitting his side made too many unforced mistakes in the first half in Pretoria.
Despite this, Ireland improved in the second half 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. However, the Springboks’ Bomb Squad provided a rejuvenated pack that outlasted the Irish, who were only 13-8 down at the break and building momentum.
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
Erasmus has named the most experienced starting lineup in Springbok history, with a total of 990 caps between the selected players. The same 23 from last week’s victory will take the field, with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel set to line up in midfield for the 30th time, making them the most-capped centre pairing in Springbok history.
Farrell has been forced to make a few changes, starting with the introduction of Ronan Kelleher for Dan Sheehan, who sustained an injury last weekend. Debutant full-back Jamie Osborne and centre Robbie Henshaw have recovered from their knocks, while scrum-half Craig Casey will be replaced by Conor Murray.
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 ©
• 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 ©
• 7 Josh van der Flier
• 6 Tadhg Beirne
• 5 James Ryan
• 4 Joe McCarthy
• 3 Tadhg Furlong
• 2 Ronan 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
Returning to a lower altitude, we expect to see more ball-in-hand action this weekend. While Ireland did well to stay in the game last week, the Springboks’ experience proved decisive, and with an unchanged lineup, a similar outcome is anticipated.
