SOME THINGS HAVE changed notably since 13 July 2024.
When Ciarán Frawley nervelessly landed two long-range drop goals to send Ireland to victory in Durban, there were plenty of predictions that it would be the true launchpad for his tilt at being Ireland’s main man at number 10.
Jack Crowley had helped Ireland to a Six Nations title earlier that year, impressing as Johnny Sexton’s successor, but Frawley’s sheer cojones meant he was seen as the biggest challenger coming into the November Tests in 2023.
Yet that was the window when Sam Prendergast emerged and a year later, he will be in Ireland’s number 10 shirt as Andy Farrell’s side take on the back-to-back World Cup winners in what feels like a momentous game.
This is set to be one of the last real ‘November Tests’ before a new chapter commences with the inaugural Nations Championship next year, and it looks like the perfect way to end an era that has involved some epic autumn games in Dublin.
Ireland have won four of the last five games against the Springboks, including that second Test in South Africa last year, but both sides show some change from what was a thrilling encounter.
Ireland aren’t the only ones with a different starting out-half.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu came off the bench in the third minute that day, replacing injured fullback Willie le Roux and winning his third cap for the Springboks. His star has risen ever since and now he’s the first-choice out-half for South Africa.
He was sensational at times during the Rugby Championship this year and it’s clear that he is a special talent, but Ireland’s job on Saturday is to get in his face, make him feel the heat, and put him off his impressive stride.
Rassie Erasmus said today that Feinberg-Mngomezulu will get a snotklap at some stage, using the Afrikaans word for a punch to the face that is so hard, snot flies out of the recipient’s nose. Just as much as South Africa will aim to unsettle Prendergast, Ireland will be aiming to land a few snotklaps on 23-year-old Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
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Cobus Reinach didn't play against Ireland last year. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Faf de Klerk was still the Springboks’ starting scrum-half last summer but he wasn’t even included in their squad for this tour, with the lightning-quick Cobus Reinach now at number nine for Erasmus’ side.
35-year-old Reinach is a few months older than de Klerk but he is playing some of his best rugby, and now works with Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the Stormers.
Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, and Eben Etzebeth all started the last meeting with Ireland, but the team for Saturday shows nine changes in total.
With Ox Nché out injured, Bongi Mbonambi having dropped out of frontline contention, and Frans Malherbe also sidelined, it will be a completely different Springboks front row of Boan Venter, Malcolm Marx, and Thomas du Toit.
Marx and du Toit are well established as top-end players but loosehead prop Boan Venter is a fresh face on the Springboks scene. He has been playing with Edinburgh since 2021 and certainly doesn’t yet have the explosive qualities of Nché.
Kwagga Smith was at number eight last time these sides played but is on the bench this time as Jasper Wiese brings his ball-carrying edge from the back of the scrum. Bulls lock Ruan Nortjé will play against Ireland for the first time as he partners the world-class Eben Etzebeth in the second row.
While Kurt-Lee Arendse has been ruled out due to concussion, the scintillatingly athletic Canan Moodie brings class on the wing in his place. Damian Willemse was missing through injury in the summer of 2024 but he’s at fullback this time around.
The Springboks went with a 6/2 bench split last time they faced Ireland, but it’s a 5.5/2.5 split this weekend, with André Esterhuizen covering back the back row and inside centre.
So while there’s been plenty of change to the Springboks side over the last 16 months, both through injury and selection, it’s obviously still a seriously formidable side.
As for Ireland, eight of the team that started that day in Durban are in the XV for Saturday in Dublin.
Paddy McCarthy has come onto the Test scene recently. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne [at blindside], Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, James Lowe, and Garry Ringrose were all in Farrell’s starting side in Durban.
Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, and Dan Sheehan would have been starting only for injury, with the first two missing the tour altogether.
Craig Casey was also sidelined after being concussed in the first Test, so Conor Murray was at scrum-half. Calvin Nash was on the right wing, with Jamie Osborne at fullback.
Robbie Henshaw was in midfield alongside Ringrose, while hooker Rónan Kelleher and lock Joe McCarthy were also in the starting XV.
Nearly all of those men are still in the Ireland set-up now, so it’s not as if Ireland have undergone total transformation.
Of course, the most-discussed change in Ireland’s side has involved Prendergast’s rise, which seemed to have been slowed when Crowley started against the All Blacks at the beginning of this month.
An impressive showing against the Wallabies last weekend has earned Prendergast his biggest Test start since he was at number 10 for the clash with France in this year’s Six Nations. Prendergast was on Ireland’s tour of South Africa in 2024, but he served an apprenticeship role.
Tommy O’Brien wasn’t an Ireland international the last time they played South Africa. He didn’t win his first cap until July of this year, but he hasn’t looked back since, scoring five tries in five Tests so far.
O’Brien and Prendergast are the only players in Ireland’s team who won their first caps since that last meeting with the Boks, while Paddy McCarthy and Tom Farrell are the new faces among the replacements this weekend.
The Irish bench, which made an obvious impact last year in South Africa, included the now-retired Peter O’Mahony and Cian Healy, as well as Rob Herring, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Caolin Blade, Frawley, and Stuart McCloskey.
And so, a year on, which of these teams has most changed things for the better?
South Africa’s second consecutive Rugby Championship title and their win over France in Paris despite a permanent red card would suggest they have taken things up a level, but they haven’t had the best of times against Ireland in recent years.
Farrell’s familiar-looking team delivered their best performance of this autumn window yet against Australia last weekend and the head coach has been pushing them to find another level on Saturday.
The Springboks are favourites but Ireland are feeling good about their chances. It’s all shaping up to be another entralling encounter.
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How have South Africa and Ireland's teams changed since Durban?
SOME THINGS HAVE changed notably since 13 July 2024.
When Ciarán Frawley nervelessly landed two long-range drop goals to send Ireland to victory in Durban, there were plenty of predictions that it would be the true launchpad for his tilt at being Ireland’s main man at number 10.
Jack Crowley had helped Ireland to a Six Nations title earlier that year, impressing as Johnny Sexton’s successor, but Frawley’s sheer cojones meant he was seen as the biggest challenger coming into the November Tests in 2023.
Yet that was the window when Sam Prendergast emerged and a year later, he will be in Ireland’s number 10 shirt as Andy Farrell’s side take on the back-to-back World Cup winners in what feels like a momentous game.
This is set to be one of the last real ‘November Tests’ before a new chapter commences with the inaugural Nations Championship next year, and it looks like the perfect way to end an era that has involved some epic autumn games in Dublin.
Ireland have won four of the last five games against the Springboks, including that second Test in South Africa last year, but both sides show some change from what was a thrilling encounter.
Ireland aren’t the only ones with a different starting out-half.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu came off the bench in the third minute that day, replacing injured fullback Willie le Roux and winning his third cap for the Springboks. His star has risen ever since and now he’s the first-choice out-half for South Africa.
He was sensational at times during the Rugby Championship this year and it’s clear that he is a special talent, but Ireland’s job on Saturday is to get in his face, make him feel the heat, and put him off his impressive stride.
Rassie Erasmus said today that Feinberg-Mngomezulu will get a snotklap at some stage, using the Afrikaans word for a punch to the face that is so hard, snot flies out of the recipient’s nose. Just as much as South Africa will aim to unsettle Prendergast, Ireland will be aiming to land a few snotklaps on 23-year-old Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Faf de Klerk was still the Springboks’ starting scrum-half last summer but he wasn’t even included in their squad for this tour, with the lightning-quick Cobus Reinach now at number nine for Erasmus’ side.
35-year-old Reinach is a few months older than de Klerk but he is playing some of his best rugby, and now works with Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the Stormers.
Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, and Eben Etzebeth all started the last meeting with Ireland, but the team for Saturday shows nine changes in total.
With Ox Nché out injured, Bongi Mbonambi having dropped out of frontline contention, and Frans Malherbe also sidelined, it will be a completely different Springboks front row of Boan Venter, Malcolm Marx, and Thomas du Toit.
Marx and du Toit are well established as top-end players but loosehead prop Boan Venter is a fresh face on the Springboks scene. He has been playing with Edinburgh since 2021 and certainly doesn’t yet have the explosive qualities of Nché.
Kwagga Smith was at number eight last time these sides played but is on the bench this time as Jasper Wiese brings his ball-carrying edge from the back of the scrum. Bulls lock Ruan Nortjé will play against Ireland for the first time as he partners the world-class Eben Etzebeth in the second row.
While Kurt-Lee Arendse has been ruled out due to concussion, the scintillatingly athletic Canan Moodie brings class on the wing in his place. Damian Willemse was missing through injury in the summer of 2024 but he’s at fullback this time around.
The Springboks went with a 6/2 bench split last time they faced Ireland, but it’s a 5.5/2.5 split this weekend, with André Esterhuizen covering back the back row and inside centre.
So while there’s been plenty of change to the Springboks side over the last 16 months, both through injury and selection, it’s obviously still a seriously formidable side.
As for Ireland, eight of the team that started that day in Durban are in the XV for Saturday in Dublin.
Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne [at blindside], Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, James Lowe, and Garry Ringrose were all in Farrell’s starting side in Durban.
Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, and Dan Sheehan would have been starting only for injury, with the first two missing the tour altogether.
Craig Casey was also sidelined after being concussed in the first Test, so Conor Murray was at scrum-half. Calvin Nash was on the right wing, with Jamie Osborne at fullback.
Robbie Henshaw was in midfield alongside Ringrose, while hooker Rónan Kelleher and lock Joe McCarthy were also in the starting XV.
Nearly all of those men are still in the Ireland set-up now, so it’s not as if Ireland have undergone total transformation.
Of course, the most-discussed change in Ireland’s side has involved Prendergast’s rise, which seemed to have been slowed when Crowley started against the All Blacks at the beginning of this month.
An impressive showing against the Wallabies last weekend has earned Prendergast his biggest Test start since he was at number 10 for the clash with France in this year’s Six Nations. Prendergast was on Ireland’s tour of South Africa in 2024, but he served an apprenticeship role.
Tommy O’Brien wasn’t an Ireland international the last time they played South Africa. He didn’t win his first cap until July of this year, but he hasn’t looked back since, scoring five tries in five Tests so far.
O’Brien and Prendergast are the only players in Ireland’s team who won their first caps since that last meeting with the Boks, while Paddy McCarthy and Tom Farrell are the new faces among the replacements this weekend.
The Irish bench, which made an obvious impact last year in South Africa, included the now-retired Peter O’Mahony and Cian Healy, as well as Rob Herring, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Caolin Blade, Frawley, and Stuart McCloskey.
And so, a year on, which of these teams has most changed things for the better?
South Africa’s second consecutive Rugby Championship title and their win over France in Paris despite a permanent red card would suggest they have taken things up a level, but they haven’t had the best of times against Ireland in recent years.
Farrell’s familiar-looking team delivered their best performance of this autumn window yet against Australia last weekend and the head coach has been pushing them to find another level on Saturday.
The Springboks are favourites but Ireland are feeling good about their chances. It’s all shaping up to be another entralling encounter.
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andy farrell Ireland Rassie Erasmus Selection Selections Springboks