O'Sullivan ready for revenge

Eddie O’Sullivan has called on his side to restore Ireland’s battered pride against the Springboks at Lansdowne Road this weekend.

The Triple Crown winners toured South Africa in June with high expectations following some impressive performances during this year’s RBS 6 Nations.

But they collapsed to defeats in both Tests to continue a miserable run against the southern hemisphere giants, justifying some unflattering comments from Bok coach Jake White in the process.

“This match is even more juicy now that South Africa are Tri-Nations champions,” said O’Sullivan, who is bidding on Saturday to steer Ireland to only their second victory over the Boks.

“After seeing some of the comments made by their coach before we arrived in South Africa, I can say they obviously didn’t give us – or Irish rugby in general – a lot of credit.

“They did beat us, so I can’t say too much about it – but I think they don’t hold us in very high esteem.

“The guys were disappointed in June. We felt we could have won at least one of the matches. But now the focus is on having a crack at them in Dublin.”