Ireland's old firm look
Scrumhalf Conor Murray, centre Garry Ringrose, hooker Rónan Kelleher and lock James Ryan have been promoted to the starting team as Ireland hope to secure a second ever win over the Springboks on South African soil.
Ringrose reunites with old partner Robbie Henshaw hoping to march down midfield memory lane in the absence of Bundee Aki who was ruled out with a shoulder injury. What they lose in Aki's influential physical presence, they make up in the synergy that exists between Henshaw and Ringrose.
Tadhg Beirne's move to the side of the scrum for O'Mahony is perhaps a tacit admission Ireland conceded ground to the Boks in the physical exchanges at Loftus.
There had to be fallout from the first Test as the world's second-ranked team fell short of the mark.
Proper Test match
“That was a proper Test match and I get all that, but when we strip it back from our side, we were disappointed,” explained Farrell. “Our first half performance wasn’t us. It wasn’t us doing things properly and it might not seem like that to everyone, but to us it was. We need to improve and we need to commit and be better.
“I have no doubt that South Africa will be twice as good this weekend and that’s why we need to move pretty quickly this week in terms of the honesty of where we are at and what we need to do going forward.”
For the Springboks victory will be sweet, irrespective the manner in which it is achieved. Ireland have been a thorn in their side but they now finally have an opportunity to bring their sting to this tale.
Teams
South Africa -Willie le Roux; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Handré Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain); Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.
Substitutes: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Ireland — Jamie Osborne; Calvin Nash, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Caelan Doris (captain), Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne; James Ryan, Joe McCarthy; Tadhg Furlong, Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter.
Substitutes: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony; Caolin Blade, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
Kickoff: 5pm
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
Boks can deliver sting to this tale
Ireland have been a thorn in their side but they can now return the favour
Almost two years to the day Ireland on Saturday will hope to engineer another historic comeback when they clash with the Springboks at Kings Park.
Two years ago they scaled a peak only a few had conquered and much of the hard yards were performed in Dunedin when they beat the All Blacks to level the three-match series. They had been well beaten in the first Test at Eden Park but their victory over the All Blacks in the second Test came as such a shock to the hosts' they failed to shake off the paralysis ahead of the third Test and lost that too to concede the series.
Two years on, having lost at Loftus Versfeld last week the best Ireland can do at the end of a long season is tie the series. You have to wonder whether that is sufficient incentive with the peak to plant their flag no longer in reach.
Not that the Boks are taking any chances. “We just want to win the series,” said Bok captain Siya Kolisi.
Hard work done
“We want to make sure we use our opportunities. We worked hard to get where we are as a group. We don't want to let this slip. We know how important it is to them too. It is going to be a proper Test match,” Kolisi promised.
While the Boks adopted a 'catch us if you can' approach in retaining the match-day 23 that did duty at Loftus, Ireland's selection process has been a flurry of activity with a particularly brutal and consequential review of events that unfolded at Loftus.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has left little doubt that he means business right up to the moment the curtain drops on their season. The changes he made to the team give Ireland, despite the demotion of tour captain Peter O'Mahony to the bench, more of an 'Old Firm' look.
Farrell has acted decisively and perhaps inflicted capital punishment on a distinguished career for the shortcomings in Pretoria.
Ireland's old firm look
Scrumhalf Conor Murray, centre Garry Ringrose, hooker Rónan Kelleher and lock James Ryan have been promoted to the starting team as Ireland hope to secure a second ever win over the Springboks on South African soil.
Ringrose reunites with old partner Robbie Henshaw hoping to march down midfield memory lane in the absence of Bundee Aki who was ruled out with a shoulder injury. What they lose in Aki's influential physical presence, they make up in the synergy that exists between Henshaw and Ringrose.
Tadhg Beirne's move to the side of the scrum for O'Mahony is perhaps a tacit admission Ireland conceded ground to the Boks in the physical exchanges at Loftus.
There had to be fallout from the first Test as the world's second-ranked team fell short of the mark.
Proper Test match
“That was a proper Test match and I get all that, but when we strip it back from our side, we were disappointed,” explained Farrell. “Our first half performance wasn’t us. It wasn’t us doing things properly and it might not seem like that to everyone, but to us it was. We need to improve and we need to commit and be better.
“I have no doubt that South Africa will be twice as good this weekend and that’s why we need to move pretty quickly this week in terms of the honesty of where we are at and what we need to do going forward.”
For the Springboks victory will be sweet, irrespective the manner in which it is achieved. Ireland have been a thorn in their side but they now finally have an opportunity to bring their sting to this tale.
Teams
South Africa -Willie le Roux; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Handré Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain); Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.
Substitutes: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Ireland — Jamie Osborne; Calvin Nash, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Caelan Doris (captain), Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne; James Ryan, Joe McCarthy; Tadhg Furlong, Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter.
Substitutes: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony; Caolin Blade, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
Kickoff: 5pm
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
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