Ireland play their first Test match on South African soil in eight years, as they take on the Springboks in the first of two mouth-watering clashes between the world’s top-ranked teams.
SUMMER TOUR FIRST TEST:
Saturday, July 6 –
SOUTH AFRICA v IRELAND, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 5pm local time/4pm Irish time (live Sky Sports Main Event & Action/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Leinster’s Jamie Osborne will make his Ireland debut, starting at full-back as Farrell’s charges get their summer tour under way against the World champions in Pretoria.
Stepping up for his first senior international cap, the Naas clubman (22) had an impressive season in Leinster blue and was in camp with the squad during this year’s successful Guinness Men’s Six Nations campaign.
Scrum half Craig Casey will make his fifth start, replacing the injured Jamison Gibson-Park (hamstring). He features at half-back alongside Jack Crowley, who kicked the closing penalty during last September’s 13-8 Rugby World Cup pool win over South Africa.
Calvin Nash, James Lowe, Robbie Henshaw, and Bundee Aki complete the starting back-line, and the pack is unchanged from March’s Six Nations title-clinching victory over Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.
Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne team up in the engine room, behind the all-Leinster front row of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, and Tadhg Furlong. Winning his 106th cap, Peter O’Mahony captains his country for the 15th time.
Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris combine with the Corkman in the back row, and the 5-3 split on the replacements bench includes Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, and Ryan Baird as the forward options.
Back to full fitness after a shoulder injury, Garry Ringrose is poised to play only his second Test of the calendar year. Centurion Conor Murray provides back-up at scrum half, and the versatile Ciarán Frawley is looking to build on his three recent Six Nations appearances.
Speaking ahead of the opening encounter with the Springboks, head coach Farrell said: “From our point of view there is nothing but respect for what South Africa have done, continued to do and achieve. The record speaks for itself, so how can you not have respect?
“It’s funny that now the games have come around, one talks about the ‘rivalry’ but we haven’t played much (against each other) at all.
“Again, we have always said that the more that we play the top teams the better it is going to be for us. We tend to only get the consistency of that through the Autumn Series for one game really.
“To be able to come over here and see how passionate people are, why they love the Springboks so much, and why they are so powerful to the people in South Africa, it’s a privilege for us to be able to come over here and feel that.”
He added: “Jamie’s obviously going to add to our performance. From what I’ve seen lately in the back end of the URC season is that whenever he plays, he’s got presence, it doesn’t matter what position he plays.
“He suits the way we play, he’s bright, he gets on the ball a lot in an organising way. His communication is very good and he’s accurate. He’s obviously got nice, soft hands, and can play that way but also he can hit a line as well.
“To add to that, he’s deceptively very quick, good in the air, very athletic, and he’s got a big left boot on him as well.”
Meanwhile, South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has selected an experienced squad featuring 20 World Cup winners – the entire starting XV and five players on the bench.
The three players in the matchday 23 who did not play in last year’s World Cup in France are replacements Gerhard Steenekamp (prop), Salmaan Moerat (lock), and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), who are elevated to a selection featuring a six-two bench split.
Twelve of the side started the 12-11 World Cup final triumph over New Zealand, with the other three (Willie le Roux, Kwagga Smith, and Ox Nche) coming off the bench in Paris.
The selection of previously unavailable players means that the team shows eight changes to the one that defeated Wales 41-13 in London last time, as Erasmus welcomes back captain Siya Kolisi, le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handre Pollard, Marco van Staden, RG Snyman, and Steenekamp.
SOUTH AFRICA: Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls); Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls); Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles); Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Siya Kolisi (Racing 92) (capt), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs).
Replacements: Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers).
IRELAND: Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster); Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster); Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster), Ciarán Frawley (UCD/Leinster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster).
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Foul Play Review Officer: Ian Tempest (England)
Pre-Match Quotes: Peter O’Mahony (Ireland) –
I think it would be wrong or strange if you didn’t stand up a little bit taller when you walk into this Ireland camp. It’s a great environment, a great place to be.
“It’s funny any of the niggles, the sore bits fade away in this environment because of what it means to you, because of the group and who you’re being coached by.
“You would see guys after the few days, guys have been beaten but they’ve dusted themselves off and we’ve an unbelievable pep in our step going training, enjoying each others’ company and, as I said, it’s an unbelievably energised group.
“It’s going to take probably our very best performance of this group’s lifespan to win over here, but we’ve ticked off a lot of big occasions and that’s why you play the game for Test matches and opportunities like this.”
Rassie Erasmus (South Africa) –
Ireland have had the upper hand over us in the last few years and they will certainly want to build on that on Saturday. That said, we have a good idea of what to expect from them, especially after the World Cup last year.
“They have a few new players in their ranks this year, but so do we and that contributes to the excitement for the match.
“They are a physical team that never give up, but the margins between the teams are fairly small, so it’s going to be an intense battle and one that will require a resolute performance for the full 80 minutes.”
Pre-Match Videos –
Recent Meetings –
2017: Guinness Series: Ireland 38 South Africa 3, Aviva Stadium
2022: Bank of Ireland Nations Series: Ireland 19 South Africa 16, Aviva Stadium
2023: Rugby World Cup Pool B: South Africa 8 Ireland 13, Stade de France
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Publish date : 2024-07-06 10:17:12
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