'Ireland have been on our minds' - Etzebeth focused on the here and now despite upcoming World Cup date

'It's almost like a curtain raiser for that game but yeah, we need to be fully focused on this Test match, we've still got a long end-of-year tour but Ireland have been in our minds for the last couple of weeks,' second-row Eben Etzebeth said.

PHENOM: Eben Etzebeth. ©INPHO/Ben Brady

If anything is going to make a Springbok enforcer sit up and take notice, Ireland’s Test series win in New Zealand this summer certainly caught Eben Etzebeth’s attention and it has whetted the World Cup winner’s appetite for Saturday’s Aviva Stadium showdown.

Asked to assess Andy Farrell’s side ahead of South Africa’s opening European tour Test, the lock who became his country’s youngest player to reach 100 caps as a 30-year-old against Wales in July immediately referenced Ireland’s back-to-back wins over the All Blacks in the same month as they bounced back from a series-opening defeat at Eden Park.

"They got a serious win in New Zealand, which is not an easy thing to do,” Etzebeth, now 31, said yesterday. “They are ranked number one in the world currently, so it's going to be a great Test match for us but also because we're playing in the World Cup next year.

"It's almost like a curtain raiser for that game but yeah, we need to be fully focused on this Test match, we've still got a long end-of-year tour but Ireland have been in our minds for the last couple of weeks.” 

Both Etzebeth and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus were asked whether Saturday’s Test had any bearing on next September 23’s World Cup pool clash at Stade de France.

"It's a difficult one to answer, I think the World Cup will be something on its own,” Etzebeth said. 

“We last played them in 2017 (losing 38-3) so you'd almost expect something different in the World Cup, so it's nice to play them this year.” 

Erasmus revealed some more pressing motivation for victory in Dublin this weekend.

“I think it spices it up because they gave us 38 points last time and it was just before the World Cup, and we would have played them then somewhere,” the former Munster boss said.

“Obviously, we did a lot of analysis in 2019. When we played Japan (in the quarter-final), it might have been Ireland, so we did a lot of analysis on them.

“I just think we haven't beaten them since 2012 in Ireland. So, the thing is, since 2018, we were really bad at some things.

“We had a 50 per cent win record and we lost some bad games with bad scores, so you can't actually make it relevant because the World Cup has been, the British and Irish Lions has been since, so it is totally two new teams. It's just other coaches, so it's just a new game. It's a new game.”