Durban - Five years ago a young Siya Kolisi was on the flank when the Boks were soundly beaten 38-3 by Ireland in Dublin and on the eve of the rematch at the same venue, he says that day was one of his toughest in the Springbok jersey.
You would think revenge would be on the minds of the 12 players in today’s match day squad of 23 but captain Kolisi says the focus is not on the past but rather on measuring themselves against the top team in the world to see where they are a year from the World Cup.
“We have not forgotten that game but this is a new Springbok team and it is more about building on what we have done so far this year than going back to 2017,” Kolisi said.
“Ireland have evolved as a team too – only five of this Ireland team played in 2017 – and have gone on to be ranked No 1. They are a much better team than they were five years ago, they deserve the top ranking, so this is about us, the No 3 team in the world, giving our best against the No 1 team and afterward we will know more about where we are a year away from France.
“But yes, we haven’t forgotten that day … It was very tough. For those of us who were there, it was one of our toughest ever days in the Springbok jersey.”
Ireland are famous for their ability to hold on to the ball for long periods while master flyhalf Johnny Sexton pulls the strings, and Kolisi said his team’s ability to put pressure on the breakdown is vital.
“The breakdown will decide the game. If you look at their loose forwards – Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’mahony – plus you add their mobile tight forwards in Tadgh Beirne and Andrew Porter … they are all breakdown specialists.
“They can go beyond 15 phases almost whenever they choose, so we have to trust our defence,” Kolisi stressed.
“We have defended multi phases before in the Rugby Championship and will have to do it again but for even longer – it will be about patience and discipline for us during those phases. Sexton has a good boot and if he has time and space he will keep putting us back in our 22.”
Meanwhile, Kolisi’s counterpart Sexton said his team had to improve on how they played in beating the All Blacks in June to beat the Boks.
“It is going to be tough for us because the Boks have seen how we did it,” Sexton said.
“South Africa will have taken notes and they’ll have a plan to stop us, so we need to either do things better or change it a little bit. The Boks are a very tough defensive team who try to make life as difficult as possible for you. We referred to playing the All Blacks away as the biggest test you can face in rugby. It is, in many ways, but it is a different test coming this Saturday.
“If we want to win the World Cup we’ve got to beat different teams playing different games and the Boks are very different to New Zealand. They are almost unique.”
LINE-UPS
IRELAND: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Jamison Gibson Park, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Stuart Mccloskey
SOUTH AFRICA: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kurtlee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux