No change to South Africa side to face Ireland as they make Springbok history 

ROUND TWO: South Africa's Pieter-Steph du Toit  in action against Ireland's Josh van der Flier in the first test at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

South Africa Head Coach Rassie Erasmus has named an unchanged starting XV for their second Test match against Ireland on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban (4pm Irish time).

The Springboks matchday 23 has a total of 990 combined Test caps amongest them to become the most experienced team in Springbok history which surpasses the 987 caps amassed by the team which defeated New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final in France last year.

Damien de Allende and Jessie Kriel will become the most-capped centre pairing in South Africa history when they combine for the 30th time in Tests.

“It’s always tough facing Ireland,” said Erasmus. “They are a quality team, they are ranked second in the world, and as we saw last week, they never stop fighting, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that awaits us this weekend.

“We have no doubt they’ll come out even stronger this week, but we also identified the areas of the game that we need to improve on, and it’s vital for us to build on our performance in our quest to win both matches.”

Speaking about the most experienced line up in South Africa history Eramus said “We don’t really look at such things when we select the team, but this shows how blessed we are with the depth in the squad and the quality of the players we have.

“While it may be an impressive statistic, it will by no means guarantee us a victory. We know we must go out there and play good rugby for the full 80 minutes to get the desired result.”

Erasmus was happy with the performances of the younger players Gerhard Steenekamp (prop), Salmaan Moerat (lock), and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) last week and expects them to have more confidence when they take to the field this weekend. 

“They all made a strong impact off the bench, and they have immense potential as individuals,” said Erasmus. “They’ll definitely become more confident and settled the more they play.

“It was really impressive to see them step up to the challenge of facing a top side such as Ireland, and similarly to the rest of the team, they know this weekend will be an even bigger test, but they’ll be up for the challenge.”

Eramus has gone with a 6-2 split on the bench again this weekend. 

“We considered a few options for the first Test – a five-three split, six-two split, and seven-one split, and we felt that this combination is the best to counter the challenge Ireland poses.

“The replacements made a good impact when they took the field by injecting energy into the game, and we are looking for much of the same from them this week.”

The Springboks Head Coach expects a backlash from Ireland this weekend. 

“We’ve been on the wrong side of the scoreboard on a few occasions too and we remember how it felt to suffer a defeat against them in the World Cup pool stages, and we have no doubt they are feeling the same this week.

“They are a proud team and nation and they’ll be disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on a few opportunities last week close to our tryline, so they will work hard this week to fix their mistakes and ensure that they convert their chances into points.

“This is going to be another physically gruelling match, and just like us, they will be determined to correct the wrongs of last week.

“There is also the other important matter of them of trying to draw the series, while we would be delighted to win both matches, which will fuel their motivation, so it is going to be another spectacle of top-class rugby.”

SOUTH AFRICA: Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles); Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (Racing 92) (c), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) 

Replacements: Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers)