In the lead-up to facing Ireland anyone wearing a Springbok tracksuit proclaimed that the Autumn tour to Ireland, Britain and Italy was the beginning of their World Cup preparation and not an isolated sequence of games.

History may be written by the victors, but the losing perspective makes for interesting consumption.

The visitors hold all the aces in terms of recent form, preparation, settled combinations and the confidence that stems from beating New Zealand last time out.

As Jack McGrath lounges on a sofa, you could not imagine the young prop was preparing to go toe to toe with a mighty South African pack of forwards.

Coach Heyneke Meyer has announced the South African team that will play Ireland in Dublin on Saturday in the first of Ireland’s Autumn rugby internationals.

Argentina 17 South Africa 22

South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has entrusted 22-year-old Pat Lambie with flyhalf responsibilities for Saturday’s meeting with Ireland in the Aviva Stadium (5.30pm).

Argentina 16 South Africa 16

South Africa 14 England 14

South Africa 22 England 17

Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis has backed “brilliant” Ireland to make it to the World Cup final after their impressive performances so far in the tournament.

South Africa coach Peter De Villiers will rely on the core of the squad that became world champions four years ago after naming his 30-man World Cup squad tonight.

SARACENS come to Dublin this week marooned at the bottom of pool four, eight points behind Leinster, but Richardt Strauss has reason enough to approach Saturday’s Heineken Cup encounter with due care.

Juan Smith will captain South Africa when they take on the Barbarians next weekend in their final match of the season, it has been announced today.

Scotland 21 South Africa 17

South Africa head coach Peter de Villiers has named 11 uncapped players in his preliminary 39-man training squad for their Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

Allister Coetzee insists there is no truth in reports of a planned coup involving himself and Jake White aimed at toppling national coach Peter de Villiers.

Bath fly-half Butch James is a notable absentee from the South Africa bench for this weekend's Tri Nations encounter against Australia in Bloemfontein.

Butch James, Jannie du Plessis and Flip van der Merwe are all doubts for South Africa ahead of this week's final Tri Nations encounter against Australia in Bloemfontein.

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry concedes that Johannesburg’s altitude factor could be a major stumbling block for his side ahead of their Tri-Nations showdown with South Africa on Saturday.

GRAHAM HENRY expects his New Zealand side to face a much-changed South Africa one when the two countries meet in the Tri-Nations on Saturday.

Front row pair BJ Botha and Tendai Mtawarira are among five player that have been dropped from the South Africa squad to face New Zealand in their Tri Nations encounter in Johannesburg on Saturday.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has made two enforced changes for the second Tri Nations Test in Wellington on Saturday as his team look to make amends for their humbling loss to New Zealand.

Ulster's BJ Botha has been called into the South African sqaud for Leinster's CJ van der Linde, who has cried off with a hamstring injury in the match against Saracens on Tuesday.

Leinster tight-head prop CJ van der Linde has been drafted into the Springbok squad as a replacement for Jannie du Plessis, who has withdrawn from the European tour with a hand injury.

SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter de Villiers has backed Jaque Fourie to fill the void created by the loss of centre Adi Jacobs for the Springboks’ Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand on Saturday.

SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter de Villiers claims maintaining consistency was a key part of the decision to continue with the same group of players that overcame the British and Irish Lions for their opening Tri-Nations fixture against New Zealand in Bloemfontein on July 25.

IF THIS was supposed to be a step up in class, then the British & Irish Lions coped with it admirably. They met fire with fire, kept their try-line intact for the first time on tour and strode majestically forward towards next week’s first Test at the same venue.

IRELAND’S Lions curse struck again last night with Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris packing his bags and heading home after a knee injury ruled him out of the tour to South Africa.

The British and Irish Lions are sweating on the fitness of one of their potential Test stars only 11 days before tackling world champions South Africa.

IAN McGEECHAN has revealed he is unlikely to give his British and Irish Lions Test team a trial run before their opening showdown against world champions South Africa.

South Africa has released prop Deon Carstens to play for Natal Sharks against the British & Irish Lions on Wednesday at the Absa Stadium in Durban.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has made two changes to the team which beat Scotland last weekend for the season-ending Test against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

South Africa have delayed their team announcement for Saturday’s clash with England by 48 hours due to injuries.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers sprang several surprises when naming his 30-man squad for the Tests against Wales and Italy next month.

SOUTH AFRICA centre Jaque Fourie claims his team have made no special plans to counteract England’s expected forwards-based approach in the run-up to Saturday’s World Cup final.

ARGENTINA fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez has shaken off injury concerns and is named in an unchanged Pumas side for tomorrow’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa.

South Africa coach Jake White has recalled prop CJ van der Linde for Sunday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina in Paris.

Francois Steyn is braced for a bone-crunching World Cup clash between South Africa and Fiji on Sunday, admitting: “There are going to be some huge hits.”

South Africa have hit prop problems in the build-up to Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Fiji at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

CAPTAIN John Smit admits the tournament-ending injury sustained by prop BJ Botha will impact on South Africa’s hopes of winning the World Cup.

South Africa prop BJ Botha has been ruled out of the World Cup after damaging knee ligaments in the Springboks’ 64-15 win over the USA on Sunday night.

Jannie du Plessis will make his South Africa debut against Australia on Saturday in the Tri-Nations encounter in Sydney.