IT WAS 2004 when Ireland’s relationship with South Africa started to change.
Jake White disrespected the Irish, the Lansdowne Road crowd responded, Ronan O’Gara tapped controversially and dove over, and Eddie O’Sullivan’s men defended for their lives.
That 17-12 win in Dublin ended Ireland’s 39-year wait for victory over South Africa.
Since that day, Ireland have won eight of the 13 meetings between these teams, including four of the last five games. It’s a record that the Springboks are hugely motivated to change.
The low point for the Boks came just before Rassie Erasmus’ return. He was there at the Aviva Stadium that November 2017 day as Ireland hammered the South Africans 38-3, a scoreline that had scarcely been believable in the decades before.
That remains Ireland’s biggest-ever winning margin against the Springboks, as well as the most points they have ever scored in a Test against South Africa.
It remains an outlier, mainly because Erasmus started whipping the Boks into shape so quickly upon his return home.
And yet, South Africa have lost three of their four games against Ireland since he took over.
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Mack Hansen celebrates in Dublin in 2022. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Of course, the Boks have the honours that really matter – World Cups and Rugby Championships – but they undoubtedly have a score to settle with Andy Farrell’s Ireland team. They have hated those defeats.
Ireland were 19-16 winners when Erasmus’ men came to Dublin in November 2022, which was the first meeting of the sides since that 38-3 trouncing the Boks took five years before.
The Irish pack were immense, taking scrum penalties off the South Africans and generally fronting up in a game of monstrous physcality. Remember that this was the first time Ireland had played South Africa since it came to light that Erasmus had suggested they were “softies” during the 2019 World Cup. Paul O’Connell’s forwards showed just how tough they could be.
Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray, Tadhg Furlong, and Lood de Jager were all forced off injured in the first half alone. It was a brutal battle. That level of shudder-incuding contact has never dipped in these match-ups since.
Josh van der Flier brilliantly finished a maul try for Ireland, while they stopped the Boks’ efforts in that department, and Mack Hansen finished a wonderful, sweeping Irish attack that started with a Caelan Doris turnover and featured a big Jamison Gibson-Park break.
South Africa rued the absence of a frontline place-kicker in their ranks, but Ireland were riding high as the number-one-ranked team in the world at that stage and deserved the win.
They backed it up with another riveting 13-8 victory against Erasmus’ men in the pool stages of the World Cup the following year. Again, it took a next-level physical effort, while Hansen again finished a classy score.
Ireland had to cling on by their fingernails, but they kept finding answers amid the relentless waves of South African pressure. The Boks went for a 7/1 bench split that night in Paris but it was the 5/3 Irish bench that made the bigger impact.
Ireland fans in Paris in 2023. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
And it was the night that Zombie was reborn as an Irish rugby anthem. No one who was there at Stade de France will ever forget that spine-tingling rendition of the Cranberries’ classic.
Of course, the Boks went on to win the World Cup, so it mattered little to them in the end, but there certainly was plenty of feeling when they got Ireland onto South African soil in the summer of 2024.
They took them to their fortress of Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and were deserved 27–20 victors. Ireland stuck in the fight and had something of a late resurgence, but they made far too many errors and had the ignominy of being marched over their own line by the Springboks scrum for a penalty try.
That was also the day the South Africans repurposed Zombie as their own, replacing the title with ‘Rassie’ and taking great glee in bellowing it out at the final whistle.
Farrell was livid with Ireland’s timidity in that game. He sat his players down and showed them clips from the first Test where they had come up short in terms of their work-rate and standing up for each other. It was searingly honest stuff, and Farrell got a big response in the second Test.
It still took something special from Ciarán Frawley with his two late drop-goals in Durban, but Ireland had just their second-ever win on South African soil.
The Boks were distraught with the 25-24 defeat and a shared series, watching on in deep frustration as the Irish players celebrated wildly.
Ciarán Frawley after his winning drop goal in Durban last year. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
And those images surely remain fresh in their minds as they prepare for the latest battle with Farrell’s men in Dublin on Saturday. It would give Erasmus and co. deep pleasure to hand Ireland a beating on their home patch at the end of this brilliant year.
South Africa have won 11 of their 13 games so far in 2025, only losing to Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
They claimed that title for the second successive year and they’re now looking to finish out their November tour with a clean sweep by beating Ireland and Wales.
This fixture has given us memorable fireworks in the last three years, and Saturday should be another grand show.
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Ireland set for another battle royale as Boks look to settle a score
IT WAS 2004 when Ireland’s relationship with South Africa started to change.
Jake White disrespected the Irish, the Lansdowne Road crowd responded, Ronan O’Gara tapped controversially and dove over, and Eddie O’Sullivan’s men defended for their lives.
That 17-12 win in Dublin ended Ireland’s 39-year wait for victory over South Africa.
Since that day, Ireland have won eight of the 13 meetings between these teams, including four of the last five games. It’s a record that the Springboks are hugely motivated to change.
The low point for the Boks came just before Rassie Erasmus’ return. He was there at the Aviva Stadium that November 2017 day as Ireland hammered the South Africans 38-3, a scoreline that had scarcely been believable in the decades before.
That remains Ireland’s biggest-ever winning margin against the Springboks, as well as the most points they have ever scored in a Test against South Africa.
It remains an outlier, mainly because Erasmus started whipping the Boks into shape so quickly upon his return home.
And yet, South Africa have lost three of their four games against Ireland since he took over.
Of course, the Boks have the honours that really matter – World Cups and Rugby Championships – but they undoubtedly have a score to settle with Andy Farrell’s Ireland team. They have hated those defeats.
Ireland were 19-16 winners when Erasmus’ men came to Dublin in November 2022, which was the first meeting of the sides since that 38-3 trouncing the Boks took five years before.
The Irish pack were immense, taking scrum penalties off the South Africans and generally fronting up in a game of monstrous physcality. Remember that this was the first time Ireland had played South Africa since it came to light that Erasmus had suggested they were “softies” during the 2019 World Cup. Paul O’Connell’s forwards showed just how tough they could be.
Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray, Tadhg Furlong, and Lood de Jager were all forced off injured in the first half alone. It was a brutal battle. That level of shudder-incuding contact has never dipped in these match-ups since.
Josh van der Flier brilliantly finished a maul try for Ireland, while they stopped the Boks’ efforts in that department, and Mack Hansen finished a wonderful, sweeping Irish attack that started with a Caelan Doris turnover and featured a big Jamison Gibson-Park break.
South Africa rued the absence of a frontline place-kicker in their ranks, but Ireland were riding high as the number-one-ranked team in the world at that stage and deserved the win.
They backed it up with another riveting 13-8 victory against Erasmus’ men in the pool stages of the World Cup the following year. Again, it took a next-level physical effort, while Hansen again finished a classy score.
Ireland had to cling on by their fingernails, but they kept finding answers amid the relentless waves of South African pressure. The Boks went for a 7/1 bench split that night in Paris but it was the 5/3 Irish bench that made the bigger impact.
And it was the night that Zombie was reborn as an Irish rugby anthem. No one who was there at Stade de France will ever forget that spine-tingling rendition of the Cranberries’ classic.
Of course, the Boks went on to win the World Cup, so it mattered little to them in the end, but there certainly was plenty of feeling when they got Ireland onto South African soil in the summer of 2024.
They took them to their fortress of Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and were deserved 27–20 victors. Ireland stuck in the fight and had something of a late resurgence, but they made far too many errors and had the ignominy of being marched over their own line by the Springboks scrum for a penalty try.
That was also the day the South Africans repurposed Zombie as their own, replacing the title with ‘Rassie’ and taking great glee in bellowing it out at the final whistle.
Farrell was livid with Ireland’s timidity in that game. He sat his players down and showed them clips from the first Test where they had come up short in terms of their work-rate and standing up for each other. It was searingly honest stuff, and Farrell got a big response in the second Test.
It still took something special from Ciarán Frawley with his two late drop-goals in Durban, but Ireland had just their second-ever win on South African soil.
The Boks were distraught with the 25-24 defeat and a shared series, watching on in deep frustration as the Irish players celebrated wildly.
And those images surely remain fresh in their minds as they prepare for the latest battle with Farrell’s men in Dublin on Saturday. It would give Erasmus and co. deep pleasure to hand Ireland a beating on their home patch at the end of this brilliant year.
South Africa have won 11 of their 13 games so far in 2025, only losing to Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
They claimed that title for the second successive year and they’re now looking to finish out their November tour with a clean sweep by beating Ireland and Wales.
This fixture has given us memorable fireworks in the last three years, and Saturday should be another grand show.
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Another Chapter Ireland Rivals South Africa Springboks