THERE’S AN AWFUL lot that needs to go right for any team to beat South Africa, and particularly when the back-to-back world champions are in such frightening form.
At the moment Rassie Erasmus’ men are in the habit of picking up red cards but even that is failing to disrupt their flow. These Springboks are confident, ferocious, fast and deadly accurate.
So if Ireland are to end their November campaign with a win tomorrow they must tick a lot of boxes. For a start, it would go a long way if the lineout and scrum both got close to the 100% return they enjoyed against Australia last weekend. A similarly fast and accurate start would also help, as would the strong finish and punchy impact off the bench. The first half penalty count and mid-game slump – where Ireland went 28 minutes without a score – less so.
And ultimately, so much of it comes down to the top two inches. There’s any amount of technical skills and details where Ireland need to be on the money, but the physicality of the Springboks demands you turn up with the right mindset and tuned to the correct emotional pitch.
This is something that was not quite there for Ireland’s first Test in South Africa last year, where Andy Farrell was disappointed in how his players reacted to Craig Casey being flattened by RG Snyman. Home truths were delivered, and Ireland came in at a different pitch as they wrestled out a win a week later.
Hardened ex-pros like to remind us that rugby can still be a simple game, and with that in mind, this week – more than any other in the Test calendar – there is a heightened importance on Ireland’s mindset around that physicality and contact work.
“It is, 100%,” says Farrell. “And making sure that you’re level-headed enough to see what it is that’s coming in front of you. Because, let’s be right, it’s not as though they’re just coming in ones.”
Advertisement
Farrell hopes his players have saved their best until last this month. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Not that it’s all about bashing up the opposition. Farrell was quick to point out that the Springboks are not short on attacking quality across their backline.
“They’ve got some box of tricks in their backs as well, and they’ve got some nice subtlety in how they play in attack, and that’s continued to grow as well. So it’s not just about just fronting up, it’s about decision-making and making sure that we’re able to see the pictures in front of us and when the contact has to be made, that we’re in a good enough position to be able to do that.”
This has been a familiar theme for Farrell’s Ireland. He wants his players to play what they see, but it’s about making smart decisions. They did this to an extent against New Zealand, but their accuracy was off in Chicago. Two weeks later against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies, the passes were sticking and the kicks were finding their intended targets.
Naturally, the hope is that same sharpness is there from the start tomorrow, and that Ireland’s whole month has been building toward peaking this weekend.
“Of course, 100%. If you didn’t think that was going to be the case you’re doing something wrong. But that’s not to say playing against the best in the world that that’s going to happen, because if you’re not up to speed with how you attack the game then they smell a sign of weakness.
“We’ve seen what they’ve done to New Zealand in New Zealand, they’ve shown what they’ve done to Argentina as well and the scorelines they’ve run away with.
“Obviously we didn’t get the performance that we wanted (against New Zealand), but the hard work that we put in, in Chicago and in the camp beforehand, we said at the time after the game that it would stand to us. Now I think we’re more up to speed with international rugby, the pressures of it, the accuracy of it, and the speed of it and the fitness levels, but you’ve still got to turn up and apply all that and take your game forward to an outstanding team.”
A team which will be led at 10 by Sam Prendergast, with the Leinster out-half again winning the latest selection battle over Jack Crowley. Yesterday, Farrell was clearly agitated when asked about Prendergast’s defensive work – something which the Ireland boss had last week admitted remains “a work in progress.” His snappy reply suggested Farrell is growing tired of questions about the Prendergast-Crowley selection conversation. He denied as much.
“How can I be sick because it’s going to continue? This has been going on for 100 years in Irish rugby so it’s not going to stop,” he said.
Sam Prendergast starts at 10 tomorrow. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I get it, like. I think the two players that we keep debating about, I said last week about the other lads [Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley], and we’ve been in contact with the other lads. So it continues the whole time. I get the narrative but I think we should continue to see the good in people because we’ve got a hell of lot a players and we should continue to do that across the board.”
Earlier in the day South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus had held court at their team hotel in South Dublin, fielding questions for more than half an hour. Across the many topics covered, Erasmus admitted he would be interested in regaining the services of Jacques Nienaber ahead of the 2027 World Cup. The Leinster defence coach has confirmed that his contract with the province expires at the end of the 2026/27 club season and hasn’t ruled out a return to the Springboks set-up.
It could present an interesting situation for Ireland, given Nienaber has worked so closely with the bulk of the players who make up Farrell’s Test squad. The Ireland boss argues that Nienaber has brought as much intel to the Irish game as he might take back to South Africa down the line.
“I know Jacques well enough,” Farrell said. “One, he’s a fantastic coach and he’s a good bloke as well. It’s not as though he’s not giving his all every single day of the week at Leinster. 100% he is and it works both ways, doesn’t it?
“I suppose the experience is there to be seen both ways, I would have thought, and Jacques would have 100% rubbed off on a lot of our players in a lot of fantastic ways and we can hopefully use that to our advantage along the way.”
A question for another day perhaps. Farrell has enough on his plate to be dealing with this week.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Farrell needs his players to stay calm amid the chaos against South Africa
THERE’S AN AWFUL lot that needs to go right for any team to beat South Africa, and particularly when the back-to-back world champions are in such frightening form.
At the moment Rassie Erasmus’ men are in the habit of picking up red cards but even that is failing to disrupt their flow. These Springboks are confident, ferocious, fast and deadly accurate.
So if Ireland are to end their November campaign with a win tomorrow they must tick a lot of boxes. For a start, it would go a long way if the lineout and scrum both got close to the 100% return they enjoyed against Australia last weekend. A similarly fast and accurate start would also help, as would the strong finish and punchy impact off the bench. The first half penalty count and mid-game slump – where Ireland went 28 minutes without a score – less so.
And ultimately, so much of it comes down to the top two inches. There’s any amount of technical skills and details where Ireland need to be on the money, but the physicality of the Springboks demands you turn up with the right mindset and tuned to the correct emotional pitch.
This is something that was not quite there for Ireland’s first Test in South Africa last year, where Andy Farrell was disappointed in how his players reacted to Craig Casey being flattened by RG Snyman. Home truths were delivered, and Ireland came in at a different pitch as they wrestled out a win a week later.
Hardened ex-pros like to remind us that rugby can still be a simple game, and with that in mind, this week – more than any other in the Test calendar – there is a heightened importance on Ireland’s mindset around that physicality and contact work.
“It is, 100%,” says Farrell. “And making sure that you’re level-headed enough to see what it is that’s coming in front of you. Because, let’s be right, it’s not as though they’re just coming in ones.”
Not that it’s all about bashing up the opposition. Farrell was quick to point out that the Springboks are not short on attacking quality across their backline.
“They’ve got some box of tricks in their backs as well, and they’ve got some nice subtlety in how they play in attack, and that’s continued to grow as well. So it’s not just about just fronting up, it’s about decision-making and making sure that we’re able to see the pictures in front of us and when the contact has to be made, that we’re in a good enough position to be able to do that.”
This has been a familiar theme for Farrell’s Ireland. He wants his players to play what they see, but it’s about making smart decisions. They did this to an extent against New Zealand, but their accuracy was off in Chicago. Two weeks later against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies, the passes were sticking and the kicks were finding their intended targets.
Naturally, the hope is that same sharpness is there from the start tomorrow, and that Ireland’s whole month has been building toward peaking this weekend.
“Of course, 100%. If you didn’t think that was going to be the case you’re doing something wrong. But that’s not to say playing against the best in the world that that’s going to happen, because if you’re not up to speed with how you attack the game then they smell a sign of weakness.
“We’ve seen what they’ve done to New Zealand in New Zealand, they’ve shown what they’ve done to Argentina as well and the scorelines they’ve run away with.
“Obviously we didn’t get the performance that we wanted (against New Zealand), but the hard work that we put in, in Chicago and in the camp beforehand, we said at the time after the game that it would stand to us. Now I think we’re more up to speed with international rugby, the pressures of it, the accuracy of it, and the speed of it and the fitness levels, but you’ve still got to turn up and apply all that and take your game forward to an outstanding team.”
A team which will be led at 10 by Sam Prendergast, with the Leinster out-half again winning the latest selection battle over Jack Crowley. Yesterday, Farrell was clearly agitated when asked about Prendergast’s defensive work – something which the Ireland boss had last week admitted remains “a work in progress.” His snappy reply suggested Farrell is growing tired of questions about the Prendergast-Crowley selection conversation. He denied as much.
“How can I be sick because it’s going to continue? This has been going on for 100 years in Irish rugby so it’s not going to stop,” he said.
“I get it, like. I think the two players that we keep debating about, I said last week about the other lads [Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley], and we’ve been in contact with the other lads. So it continues the whole time. I get the narrative but I think we should continue to see the good in people because we’ve got a hell of lot a players and we should continue to do that across the board.”
Earlier in the day South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus had held court at their team hotel in South Dublin, fielding questions for more than half an hour. Across the many topics covered, Erasmus admitted he would be interested in regaining the services of Jacques Nienaber ahead of the 2027 World Cup. The Leinster defence coach has confirmed that his contract with the province expires at the end of the 2026/27 club season and hasn’t ruled out a return to the Springboks set-up.
It could present an interesting situation for Ireland, given Nienaber has worked so closely with the bulk of the players who make up Farrell’s Test squad. The Ireland boss argues that Nienaber has brought as much intel to the Irish game as he might take back to South Africa down the line.
“I know Jacques well enough,” Farrell said. “One, he’s a fantastic coach and he’s a good bloke as well. It’s not as though he’s not giving his all every single day of the week at Leinster. 100% he is and it works both ways, doesn’t it?
“I suppose the experience is there to be seen both ways, I would have thought, and Jacques would have 100% rubbed off on a lot of our players in a lot of fantastic ways and we can hopefully use that to our advantage along the way.”
A question for another day perhaps. Farrell has enough on his plate to be dealing with this week.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
andy farrell Ireland Pressure Rugby