Boks eager to meet Ireland in the middle

Expect fireworks in Saint Denis.

RG Snyman, right, and Siya Kolisi during the South Africa rugby squad captain's run at the Stade de France. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Ireland’s modern relationship with the southern hemisphere’s best is markedly different to how it was. Moral victories are a relic of the past, the old currency long since replaced by the weightier value that comes with wins that can be recorded on a scoreboard.

Five of the last seven games against the All Blacks have been successes, Australia have only succeeded in two of the last eight meetings and the head-to-head with the Springboks reads seven wins in the last eleven.

South Africa are well aware of this. That much was apparent at the eve-of-match press conference in Saint-Denis when a standard question about the nature of this rivalry drew out an interesting response from assistant coach Mzwandile Stick.

“We've managed to play against them last year and away from home [in Dublin] they are a well-organised nation. A lot of things are functioning well in their country so when they play at home they're playing in their territory.

“World Cup is a different story, they're not playing at home, we're not playing at home and, once again, if you look at the history when it comes to the field where we're playing, 2007, this is where we had a good record.” 

Stick shared his memories of the day the Boks won the World Cup at this same venue 16 years ago when then South African president Thabo Mbeko celebrated the win along with captain John Smit after their defeat of England in the final.

He spoke affectionately of the day in 2018 when Bongi Mbonambi scored an injury-time try to steal a win from France. The message was clear: this is neutral ground but one that the Boks have embraced long before now.

Ireland may think differently. The expectation is that the stadium will play host to thousands of Irish fans. One estimate put the number at 30,000 and if it's impossible to quantify these things then it should still be a crowd that leans towards the Six Nations team.

Saint-Denis hasn’t been the most hospitable of venues for Ireland but a record of won two, drew one and lost four from their last seven visits is a highly respectable return given the upsurge in fortunes of the French team in recent times.

“We know they're not just number one for nothing, surely they're doing something right,” said Stick. “They're a well-organised team, but again, it's a World Cup, sometimes you get different challenges and you're going to have to adapt.

“That's something about us as Springboks, we're good travellers. You can take us anywhere, we know how to adapt to the conditions and again, from South Africa, everything we are facing, we are so driven and that's a strength of our team.”