South Africa narrowly missed out on the Rugby Championship title. The Springboks were beaten by New Zealand. After this setback, the South African selection starts its European tour on Saturday. The world champions will face the current world number one of Rugby, Ireland.
The last confrontation between South Africa and Ireland did not go well for the Springboks. The latter were humiliated by the Irish in 2017 in Dublin (38-3). This Saturday, November 5, South Africa has a golden opportunity to wash away this affront. The reigning world champions indeed start their European tour against this formidable Irish team. And it is not a foregone conclusion, says South African second row Eben Etzebeth.
"They have a good forward pack and we saw against New Zealand that they have a strong maul and scrum. In fact, they've won a lot of scrum penalties in this series and, in addition, they're very effective in stoppages. So they're a well-drilled team. He adds, "they had a winning streak against the All Blacks in New Zealand earlier in the year and they are currently ranked as the number one team in the world, so this will be a great test for us."
At the Rugby World Cup, the Springboks will face the same Irish team in Group A. A great opportunity for Jacques Nienaber's men to measure themselves against the current best team in the world of rugby. But Eben Etzebeth sees it as just a friendly match. "Playing them in the Rugby World Cup next year will also spice up the clash, but for us as a team it will be a different challenge in itself. We have a long tour ahead of us, and this is only the first game, and that's how we approach it as a team," he says.
After Ireland, the Springboks will face France in Marseille, Italy in Genoa and England in London. These will be good matches for coach Jacques Nienaber to fine-tune his game in preparation for the World Cup in France next year.
