Springbok dismisses talk of Ireland Test as a grudge match

Grudge match? Not really, for the Boks boys.

18 November 2025; Grant Williams, right, and Thomas du Toit during a South Africa media conference at the Radisson Blu St Helen's Hotel in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Springbok prop Thomas du Toit has denied that Saturday’s meeting with Ireland is some sort of grudge match.

Rassie Erasmus has never tasted victory with the Springboks in Dublin and that’s not a huge surprise given the turnaround in fortunes in this particular head-to-head since an Irish win in Dublin 21 years ago.

Ireland have won eight of the 13 meetings since that and four of the last five, including that epic World Cup pool meeting in Paris in 2023 and the dramatic second summer Test in Durban two summers ago when Ciaran Frawley won it with a drop goal.

But grudge match? Not really, said Du Toit on Tuesday.

“I think the media and maybe the newspapers would like to throw it that way, but we don't see it that way. I think what we've done well in the last couple of months in the two competitions [Rugby Championship and November Test series] is we’ve really taken every match and put it into its individual box and not think about the past too much.

“Good or bad, coming off a good week or bad week, we try to put the match in its own little box and focus on that match as much as we can for that specific game for that specific week,” said Du Toit, who once spent a short time on the books with Munster.

“So, yeah, I don't really feel that way in the team at the moment. I don't think the team feels that way, but we are definitely putting a massive emphasis on this week, like we've done for every other week that we've been part of.” 

Nine of this Boks squad plies its club trade in Japan. Du Toit is with Johaan van Graan’s Bath, but the rest meet Irish opposition regularly. 

Two – RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn – are with Irish provinces, one is with Edinburgh and 22 play with home franchises.

So, if a fair degree of familiarity is a factor when Ireland and South Africa meet at Test level, then what is it that these in-form world champions expect from their hosts in the Aviva Stadium this Saturday evening?

“There’s a couple of things that would be very similar to what we faced against France and Italy, both being unbelievably physical sides,” Du Toit said. “The one thing that might be a little bit different is [that Ireland have] a little bit more of a structured game: structure within structure.

“From my time playing over here [with Munster, Toulouse and Bath], and speaking to the guys who play here currently, they really understand their game very well. They understand their general play, and they also understand their set-phase plays.

“They understand it very well. They understand a couple of phases ahead. They know who they want to target. So that's probably going to be something that's going to be a little bit different.

“But it doesn't really change anything for us. We do our homework as best we can and we adapt on the day.”