ALL ALONG, IRELAND’S clash with the Springboks has loomed over their World Cup campaign.
So while Ireland paid respect to Romania and Tonga by beating both sides in ruthless fashion, they’ve been thinking about the Springboks much more.
Beat the reigning champions next Saturday at Stade de France and Ireland will be strong favourites to top Pool B, even if they will still have to overcome Scotland a fortnight later.
The reality is that the clashes with the Romanians and Tongans have been akin to warm-up matches and while Ireland have clearly warmed up well – last night’s 59-16 win over the latter made it 20 tries in two games – they’re going to have to go to a different level against the Boks.
“We’re not ready quite yet but we certainly will be,” said Ireland head coach Andy Farrell.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about quite a bit, obviously with the opponents that we knew we were going to face.
“You know, best-laid plans and all that has been pretty good so far. We’ll take that a step further this week and get the players to own that as soon as we possibly can. It’s something that they’re doing very well at this moment in time.”
The Ireland boss knows his side need to improve for this huge test.
“Well, I would hope we will be better because we’ll certainly need to be when it gets to playing against a fantastic side in South Africa,” said Farrell.
“But two games under the belt is good for us. I felt for Tonga a little bit in the sense that they didn’t get to play last week and I think once you’ve got your first game out of the way, you find your rhythm better. It certainly looked like that from our point of view.
“Hopefully that rolls onto another level on the third week because, I mean, this is what World Cups are all about, weeks that are coming against the reigning world champions.
“It doesn’t get any better and one thing’s for sure, you know that the Irish are going to turn up and enjoy it as well. So it’s a fantastic week to look forward to.”
The most recent meeting between the sides was a 19-16 win for Ireland last November. That success was one of the 15 consecutive victories that Farrell’s men carry into this crucial Pool B clash.
Ireland hadn’t played the Boks for five years before that meeting last autumn but this fixture is one of the most eagerly-anticipated pool games of the entire World Cup. It promises to be epic and Ireland captain Johnny Sexton can’t wait to play them again.
Attempting to break down the Springboks’ oppressive defence is an intriguing challenge for Sexton and co.
“That’s the thing that they pride themselves on, they have shown they are a tough team to play against,” said Sexton last night. “We need to be very accurate when we decide to take it on or when we decide to kick.
“We probably learned a lot from the November international, I think. They try to put everyone under a huge amount of pressure with their linespeed and their pressure at the breakdown. It is something that is very similar to what Tonga did in the first half.
“We will face something similar to that. It’s good preparation. We took tonight’s game as a standalone, we wanted to give the Tongans the respect that they absolutely deserved because they are a very good team. It’s a good trial run for what’s ahead next week.”
Sexton has enjoyed a strong return for Ireland after six months out of the game, but he knows better than anyone that what he’s delivered in the first two weekends of this World Cup means nothing when it comes to taking on the Boks.
“The proof of whether I’m in good form will be next Saturday,” said Sexton. “You’ve got to go and do it in the games. There’s no point in saying you’re feeling good or whatever.
“I just take it day-by-day, make sure I recover well, turn up to training on Monday and Tuesday, and try and put the plan in place to take on the reigning world champions.
“They’ve hit a great vein of form and it’s going to be a huge challenge for us but one that we are really excited about and we feel we’re ready for it.”
