Springboks reunion ideal litmus test for Andy Farrell’s Ireland two years out from next World Cup

Farrell’s men appear to have been treading water since their famous win in Durban in July 2024 in comparison to Rassie Erasmus’s side.

Ireland's Head coach Andy Farrell arrives for a team run at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire.

Having framed this month’s four Test matches as base station for the 2027 World Cup, Ireland are looking to Saturday evening’s sold-out finale against South Africa as the perfect opportunity to assess how steep of an incline will be needed to scale to get to their desired destination.

November has been a slow burn with an opener in Chicago against New Zealand that failed to spark in terms of a performance from an undercooked Irish team, gathered some momentum after a disjointed opening half to deliver a comeback victory over Japan and then approached something near a top performance to dispatch a weary-looking Australian with a record 46-19 victory over Joe Schmidt’s side seven days ago.