Ireland ready for one last push as Erasmus picks most experienced Bok team ever
EXPERIENCE NEEDED: Head coach Rassie Erasmus during training. Pic Credit: Dan Sheridan, Inpho.
After a few days of stewing over the first Test against the Springboks, Ireland have looked at the footage, digested the good, the bad and the ugly and are only looking forward to making one last push.
“We're ready to go. We've done our morning meetings and into the gym later,” hooker Ronan Kelleher said.
“A lot of lads have a lot of minutes under their belt but this is the last week and it's a massive week for us.
“It's a second Test, a bit of a final feel to it, where you don't want to go home empty handed, we need to go home with a win so it's a massive week for us.”
Although Ireland’s team will change in at last two positions with Kelleher due to start at hooker and Conor Murray at scrum half for the injured Dan Sheehan and Craig Casey respectively, the Boks named an unchanged lineup for the second Test.
It’s only the third time since 2018, when Rassie Erasmus got his hands on the Boks, that an unchanged team has been named.
The last time was between the quarter-final and semi-final of Rugby World Cup 2023. It is also the most experienced Springbok starting XV in history with 997 caps.
Erasmus is looking for continuity for two reasons – to finish the job against Ireland and win the series and with an eye on the Rugby Championship.
The Boks won the first Test 27-2o at Loftus Versfeld last week. There was some rust and players such as Handre Pollard, who had not played in more than a month, did feel the intensity later in the match.
Erasmus has made it clear the team to play Portugal after the Ireland series will be filled with youngsters and new combinations.
He’s likely to tinker against Australia and Argentina in the Rugby Championship, but the squad facing the All Blacks when New Zealand come to South Africa for their two-Test tour later this year, will look very similar to the one Ireland are facing.
“No, there was no temptation to change the team,” Erasmus said.
“We hoped everyone would be injury-free. Obviously there's always a few niggles and bumps and bruises from a game like that.
“We hoped we could play the same team two games in a row. Next week, guys like Lukhanyo Am, Canan Moodie, will hopefully get some game time against Portugal. But we're trying to get momentum, luckily the team is injury-free.”
Erasmus was happy with the result against Ireland last week, but like counterpart Andy Farrell, he was not overjoyed with his team’s performance.
Last week though, was all about getting the result for the Boks after a three-match losing streak against Ireland dating back to 2017.
This week, there appears to be even more intensity about the Boks – if that’s possible. The relief that came with beating Ireland has been replaced with the desire to score a big blow on their new rival.
“Since we got together as a group, we've lost to them by three points, three points and five points,” Erasmus said. Two were away games and one was a neutral venue, so they clearly had our number.
“This weekend again, in the last minute if they kept the ball through phases, it would have been a draw. Certainly, they created a lot and they could have scored one, two, or three tries more.
“We both scored three tries and we had a few more opportunities that wouldn't have just been opportunist, it was some well-structured play that didn't end up in tries.
“Personally, when we go to play the All Blacks, it's nice to win. When you play against Wales, it's nice to win. But Ireland is certainly one of the teams that's been peaking and ruling the Six Nations and delivering world-class players and World 15s.
“Without a doubt, we know that every single time we go up against them it's going to be a very tight match.”
While the Boks still have seven Tests in the next 11 weeks following this tour to come, Irish players will be on holiday.
For the tourists it’s about one final push and they can really empty the tank at Kings Park. The Boks still have to keep one eye on the immediate future.
Erasmus was again asked if he would name Ireland’s team in advance of the match as part of the mind games before the match.
“No, I can't predict it. I don't know who trained when,” Erasmus said.
“I just read that Sheehan and the scrumhalf got injured, so no I would guess it would be Murray, Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose, obviously Crowley at No 10. I don't know if James Lowe is fit, but he'll play. Same wing, same fullback I think, I don't know.
“Kelleher will come in at scrum time, same props. I don't know if they're going to make a change at loose forward, but...
“I'm not trying to play mind games. You're being honest, you're saying what you think you're going to face and you weigh it up, show it to the players. You compare fitness, where they are in their season - they're at the end of their season.
“In November, we're at the end of our season and we go over there and play England, Scotland, those kind of things.
"They're at the end of their season, when they're finished on Saturday they're done. They go for a four, five week break, so they can give everything.
“We're going into our season, I just go into those things to bring everyone up to speed with where we are. It's really not always mind games, sometimes it's facts.”
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