The Boks are well prepared for the coming encounter against an Ireland side ranked fourth in the world, at least according to their coach Allister Coetzee. The core of the team has been in camp since mid-October. They have suffered no further injury setbacks in the lead-up to the tour-opener in Dublin and are, according the management staff, well-conditioned for the challenge.
In one sense, the Boks have enjoyed a dream build-up to the toughest fixture of their four-Test tour. Relatively few South African journalists have travelled to Dublin to cover the Test. The Irish media has been pre-occupied with other issues such as the 2023 World Cup bid – the host nation will be confirmed in London next Wednesday – and that of foreigners qualifying for the national side through residency.
That said, the clash at the Aviva Stadium is already sold out. Many of the locals have predicted a brutal encounter, but few are expecting South Africa to dominate where it counts: on the scoreboard.
Coetzee as well as the other Bok coaches and players have gone out of their way to talk up their Irish counterparts this week. Coetzee described Ireland as ‘the All Blacks of Europe’, while assistant coach Matt Proudfoot hailed Ireland coach Joe Schmidt as one of the sharpest in the game.
The Boks are expecting something ‘out of the box’ from the Irish on Saturday. As Proudfoot pointed out, there is more to Ireland’s forward game than brute physicality. There is an intelligence to their play, be it at the breakdowns, the collisions, and at the lineouts – as was seen when Ireland last hosted the Boks in November 2014.
The Boks battled to handle the Irish mauls on that occasion. They were well beaten at the collisions and breakdowns. In the end, the 29-15 scoreline flattered the visitors; a team that had beaten the All Blacks in Johannesburg only four weeks before.
The Boks feel that they are well placed to compete in that area this Saturday. How they respond to the assault by an all-British & Irish Lions back row will be game-defining. Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, and the South African-born CJ Stander will be favourites to control the rucks and boss the gainline.
Coetzee has retained the loose trio that did a relatively good job in the 25-24 loss to the All Blacks in Cape Town last month. Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Francois Louw will offer the Boks plenty of physicality. But apart from Louw and hooker Malcolm Marx, the Boks don’t posses many players who specialise in competing for the ball on the ground.
Coetzee believes his team deserves the underdog tag. ‘Ireland are playing at home. They must surely be the favourites,’ he said on Thursday. ‘They’re a class side. They beat New Zealand last year and not a lot of teams get the opportunity to beat the No 1 team in the world.
Interestingly, Coetzee has backed Elton Jantjies to start at No 10. Coetzee has gone for continuity – Jantjies started at flyhalf in the recent clash against New Zealand and plays regularly with scrumhalf Ross Cronjé at the Lions – instead of a braver selection in Handré Pollard.
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The latter started for the Boks at the 2015 World Cup, but has battled with injuries in 2016 and 2017. Pollard is fit and ready to play at this stage, though, and one wonders when he will be backed to start on this tour.
A win against Ireland would mark a first victory for Coetzee’s Boks in the northern hemisphere. They lost all three tour matches in 2016, and have won one game away from home – against Argentina in Salta earlier this season – in two years.
A loss, of course, would heap the pressure on the coach and the team ahead of the subsequent matches against France, Italy, and Wales.
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