O'Sullivan wary of underdog Boks

Eddie O’Sullivan has welcomed Ireland’s unprecedented status as favourites to beat South Africa tomorrow but refuses to view the new-look Springboks as anything other than a major threat.

The Irish have beaten South Africa just twice in 17 previous meetings - including their last encounter 17-12 two years ago – but have been installed as odds-on favourites by one bookmaker.

A combination of the Springboks’ decision to leave their senior players at home and Ireland’s emergence as a genuine force in world rugby has shattered traditional preconceptions.

“The favourites tag is not something we’ve dwelled on because we still have to play the game tomorrow, whether we’re expected to win or not,” said O’Sullivan.

“But it’s interesting that we are favourites. We’re not running away from the fact – I think it’s great.

“It’s interesting times when Ireland are favourites against a team like South Africa.

“We’ll know tomorrow whether it was a good tag or a bad tag to have.”

Springbok coach Jake White has left big names such as Os du Randt, Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger at home in a bid to keep them fresh for the World Cup.

The policy has resulted in an experimental line-up led by the only survivor from the defeat at Lansdowne Road two years ago – hooker John Smit.

Bevin Fortuin, Jaco Pretorius and Francois Steyn make their Test debuts in the back three, while Bryan Habana is switched to outside centre after winning all 22 of his previous caps on the wing.

But O’Sullivan insists South Africa, who sit two spots above fifth-placed Ireland in the world rankings, will not be weakened by the new faces.

“Before South Africa named their team we had a stab at picking it ourselves and we were right,” he said.

“It’s a very big pack – there’s nobody under 6ft 5in or thereabouts in the back five – so they’ll have us for height.

“It’s a strong, aggressive midfield with a trio of new caps in the back three looking to cut loose.

“There’s an element of surprise when you see three new caps in one unit, but obviously Jake is confident they’re up to Test standard and he has every right to be because they have a very good track record.

“They’re exciting players and this is a good time to drop them in. Once Jake decided to leave some of the more established guys at home he was always going to blood some young players with World Cup potential.”

Many of the faces may be relatively unknown in Ireland but O’Sullivan is still expecting a trademark South African performance tomorrow.

“It will be the usual South African combination – they’ll be very aggressive up front, where they’ll try to dominate in the exchanges, and have the pace to cut loose in the back line,” he said.

“We don’t know their players very well but it will be a typical South African performance. They are a good counter-attacking team.

“They have all the ingredients needed – pace, power and skill. If they get one-on-ones, they’ll beat people. A lot of their tries come from intercepts and turnovers.”