Key events
2 min: Early penalty for Ireland. Twice in two minutes they found Lowe free on the left wing with lovely skip passes. Efficient start from Ireland. Now they’ll get the line-out just beyond the Boks’ 22.
Alrighty, Matthew Carley blows his whistle and away we go!!
Boks in green, Ireland in white.
Stirring stuff. Can the players answer Ireland’s call? They clobbered the Wallabies by a record score but this is a different bag of biltong.
I think a win today would count as Farrell’s best in a one-off Test.
Anthems now. We’re getting close!
Siya Kolisi is leading Catherine Connolly as he introduces the President of Ireland to his players.
Caelan Doris does likewise.
Big moment for the President. Big moment for Irish rugby. Big game! BIG RUGBY!
RG Snyman leads the teams out on his 50th Test appearance.
The Leinster lock will be desperate to get one over his club teammates.
“For us it’s massive.”
Rassie Erasmus isn’t downplaying how badly he wants this. He’s acheived everything in this game but he’s never beaten Ireland in Ireland.
That last stat will be the one that should concern Irish fans.
The Boks – like England – have targeted the final 20 minutes of the game. It’s not just the Bomb Squad and the firepower from the bench, but a recalibration in how teams set themselves up.
Kwagga Smith and Andre Esterhuizen will look to open up a fragmenting game. Will the Irish be able to match that injection of tempo?
How about some stats:
– Ireland have won four of their last five Tests against South Africa
– The Springboks have won their last six internationals
– South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s six international tries have all been scored in 2025
– The second half has produced the most points in nine of South Africa’s last 11 Tests
South Africa team
Ireland have their young hot-shot 10, South Africa have theirs.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a future World Rugby Player of the Year (you can hold me to that). Now is his chance to prove that.
He’s got a formidable pack in front of him and a settled midfield of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende behind him.
Canan Moodie adds height to the wing and Andre Esterhuizen continues his role as a hybrid off the bench. Is he a flank? Is he a centre? Does it matter?
South Africa: 15 D Willemse; 14 C Moodie, 13 J Kriel, 12 D De Allende, 11 C Kolbe; 10 S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 C Reinach; 1 B Venter, 2 M Marx, 3 T du Toit, 4 E Etzebeth, 5 R Nortje, 6 S Kolisi (capt), 7 PS du Toit, 8 J Wiese.
Replacements: 16 J Grobbelaar, 17 G Steenekamp, 18 W Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 K Smith, 21 A Esterhuizen, 22 G Williams, 23 M Libbok.
Ireland team
Sam Prendergasr gets the nod at fly-half as an otherwise settled side takes aim at the world champions.
Experience duo Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier return with gnarled veterans joining them across the park.
In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are the starting front row, with James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne in the engine room. There’s no tougher test for a pack in world rugby than a clash with the Boks. All these men will need to stand up.
Ireland: 15 M Hansen; 14 T O’Brien, 13 G Ringrose, 12 B Aki, 11 J Lowe; 10 S Prendergast, 9 J Gibson-Park; 1 A Porter, 2 D Sheehan, 3 T Furlong, 4 J Ryan, 5 T Beirne, 6 R Baird, 7 J van der Flier, 8 C Doris (cap).
Replacements: 16 R Kelleher, 17 P McCarthy, 18 F Bealham, 19 C Prendergast, 20 J Conan, 21 C Casey, 22 J Crowley, 23 T Farrell.
Settle in!
Teams and further updates to come.
Kick-off at 5.40pm GMT.
This is the one game that both coaches want. If it lives up to the billing, it could be the game of the year.
But Andy Farrell is a slick operator and would have circled this date in red on his calendar long before Erasmus and his gang touched down at Dublin Airport. He’ll no doubt have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Ireland, though, have not managed to kick on in quote the same fashion. The loss of Johnny Sexton is still keenly felt and there is an over reliance on some players who are in the autumn of their careers.
Ireland are not the team they were two years ago and the South Africans will start as favourites. They have retained a core group of gnarled veterans while blooding young talents. They can strike on the counter, break teams down through methodical phase play and crash over opponents with sheer, unrivalled heft. There’s a reason sober rugby minds have wondered if they are the equal to Richie McCaw’s All Blacks.
He has never won in Dublin. In fact, Ireland is the one team that has had his number wherever he’s played them. A 1-1 drawn series on his own patch came after a defeat in the World Cup. And though the Springboks lifted the Webb Ellis Cup for a second consecutive time, this one itch remains unscratched.
Here we go …
Daniel Gallan
Rassie Erasmus has ticked every box as South Africa’s all-conquering coach. Except one.
