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Battle lines drawn as Boks ready to meet their nemeses in the Irish team

Battle lines drawn as Boks ready to meet their nemeses in the Irish team
Franco Mostert of South Africa and James Ryan of Ireland jump for the ball during their teams’ clash in the Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France on 23 September 2023 in Paris, France. Photo: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images
Craig Ray
By Craig Ray
30 Jun 2024
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South Africa have not beaten Ireland in a Test since 2016, which they will want to rectify in the highly anticipated two-Test series in July.

As little as a decade ago, a Springbok Test against Ireland was viewed as a spicy, tricky encounter, but not really a heavyweight clash. The All Blacks, Australia and England remained South Africa’s priority targets at Test level.

But that dynamic has changed with Ireland muscling their way into Springbok minds and to the top table of world rugby.

At that stage, 10 years ago, Ireland had been posing problems for the Boks in Dublin, but outside of a damp Lansdowne Road/Croke Park/Aviva Stadium in November, the Boks dominated.

That changed in 2016. Ireland, maturing and improving under current Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, became a serious team away from home too. The integration of several foreign-born players into the Irish system, such as South African flank CJ Stander, and more latterly New Zealand-born scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, centre Bundee Aki and wing James Lowe, boosted Ireland’s national team.

These players added to the quality they were producing at home through their excellent four-province system. And Ireland’s rise to one of the world’s best teams at that time coincided with the Boks’ brief but pretty spectacular collapse in 2016 and 2017.

Catalyst for change


When Ireland won the first Test of the three-match series in South Africa at Newlands, the dynamic shifted. They did it with 14 men for most of the match after Stander was red-carded early in the game for a horror collision with Bok flyhalf Pat Lambie.

The Springboks rallied to win the series 2-1, with victories in Johannesburg and Gqeberha, but it was close and there was an added edge to the encounter.

Fifteen months after that series, it was a humiliation in Dublin after a humiliation in Albany against the All Blacks that changed things. Ireland dished out a 38-3 drubbing to the Boks at the Aviva Stadium on 11 November 2017.

That capitulation provided the final push for the South African Rugby Union (Saru) to send a siren call to Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, then based in Limerick with Munster, to return to coach the Boks. And we all know how that went.

Sharp edge


Despite all the success the Boks have achieved in the past six years under Erasmus – two Rugby World Cup (RWC) titles, the No 1 ranking and a series win over the British & Irish Lions, Ireland remain the pebble in their boot.

The edge between the sides has sharpened in the eight years since the last series in South Africa. They have only met three times and Ireland have won all three contests – two in Dublin and one at last year’s World Cup in France.

That 13-8 loss in Paris was particularly infuriating for the Boks. Yes, they knew they were into the quarterfinals regardless of the outcome, but there was little doubt that they wanted to beat Ireland.

It stung and maybe, with the benefit of hindsight, it worked for the Boks as they became even more desperate for success in France. It was the kick in the backside they needed to remove a few creeping signs of complacency. They lost the battle but ultimately won the war in France.

For Ireland, it was the other way round. Winning the battle was great, but the Irish would happily have swapped that outcome to be victorious in the World Cup campaign. They fell at the quarterfinal stage and remain the only top nation not to reach a RWC semifinal.

Boks Franco Mostert of South Africa and James Ryan of Ireland jump for the ball during their World Cup clash at the Stade de France in Paris on 23 September 2023. (Photo: Aurelien Meunier / Getty Images)



Ireland can’t rectify the World Cup situation for another three years, but they can impose some more psychological damage on the Boks if they win a series in South Africa.

Conversely, the Boks are desperate to end their losing streak against the Irish because it remains the one blemish on their record in the Erasmus era. There is no hiding from it.

War of words


Recent comments in the press by the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Eben Etzebeth and Damian de Allende suggesting the Irish are arrogant have added some friction to the series.

Kolbe said in an interview: “There’s been a lot of talk about Ireland deserving to win the World Cup. We’ll see in July.”

The star Bok wing is not wide of the mark, as there has been a narrative from the northern hemisphere media (and not Irish players, it has to be said) that Ireland were the best side in France. If that were the case, they would have won the title and not fallen in the quarterfinal stage.

The fact is the Boks are the best team in the world according to the rankings and because of the Webb Ellis Cup in the cabinet in Plattekloof. They have won 14 of their past 16 Tests, which is the same as the Irish.

Ireland cannot take the Webb Ellis Cup away from the Boks this July, but they could take the No 1 ranking with a series win in South Africa.

The first Test at Loftus on 6 July is at 1,350m above sea level. Much will be made of it, but the reality is that modern teams with sophisticated preparation are not as daunted by high altitude as they may have been in the past.

“There won’t be any [altitude factor] at all,” Ireland assistant coach Mike Catt said this week. “What did Glasgow do? Don’t make something that’s not.”

Catt was referring to the Glasgow Warriors, who overturned a 13-0 deficit to beat the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final at Loftus on 22 June. They finished the game stronger despite the altitude.

“If you dwell on something, people are going to get worried by it. Whenever you put on an Irish shirt, whoever you are playing against, it is hard, it’s tough. You have got to take yourself to a dark side,” Catt said.

“It is no different when we turn up at Loftus on 6 July. You have to take yourself to a level and that’s the challenge: can you take yourself to a level where you are thinking correctly? You are making your decisions in the heat of the battle.

Read more in Daily Maverick: World champion Boks must embrace favourites tag to reach new level in 2024

“It is the same for both sides too. If you are talking about altitude, not everyone plays at altitude in South Africa, so don’t worry about it.”

The South African-born Catt added: “Rugby in South Africa is huge. It’s the number one sport in the country. Everybody plays it; every school plays it. It’s religious...

“Mentally it will be tough, physically very tough. We’re fully aware of what’s coming and we’ve played them recently so it’s going to be an awesome challenge.

“They are world champions in their own backyard, but it’s about embracing it and enjoying it. A series win in South Africa has never been done before. That is another challenge for this team, the coaches, the backroom staff.

“Yeah, it is awesome. It is exciting. Let’s go and face it head-on.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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