IN THE END, Ireland have resisted any temptation to alter their usual plan.
The Springboks are the kind of team who often make others adjust. Their power can get into people’s heads. Their scheming can distract opponents from the job at hand.
It’s intoxicating to think about nullifying what the South Africans do best, to fall into the trap of spending more of your build-up time analysing every little detail of what the Boks bring. But the reality is that this approach doesn’t work too often.
Ireland may have considered changing things up this week. The Boks’ new 7/1 bench split was hung out there early in the week, challenging Ireland to deviate from their usual 5/3 bench in a bid to counter the strength that the Bomb Squad will bring in the second half.
Instead, Ireland have just stayed the course. They like having three backs on their bench. Andy Farrell gets excited when he can call on Robbie Henshaw to add midfield ballast in the second half. Farrell reckons his bench forwards are a big plus too, adding dynamism to what is an extremely fit starting pack.
And Farrell has also avoided any temptation to tinker with his tried-and-trusted starting XV. It’s a familiar-looking team but certainly not in a boring way. This side have won 15 in a row and play some of the most attractive rugby any Irish team has ever produced.
They have a clear identity and under Farrell, they haven’t spent a huge amount of time worrying about what the opposition do. They get their analysis done, sure, but they certainly don’t obsess over what the other team are up to.
Ireland back their own style of play to create opportunities, they back their strength and fitness to outlast others, and they have backed the same personnel that have delivered some massive wins in the last two seasons.
It’s impossible to know how hard Farrell and co. thought about mixing things up in their pack. Tadhg Beirne played at blindside flanker against Romania and they could have gone with him there this weekend, meaning an extra second row in the team in the shape of the experienced Iain Henderson. That might have been handy for the intense lineout and maul battle that lies ahead, but it would have meant one of Peter O’Mahony or Josh van der Flier dropping to the bench. They could have impacted from there, but it would have been tough on either of them not to start.
Ireland have instead gone with their proven formula and basically said to the Boks, ‘You know what’s coming. Try to stop us.’
In fairness, the South Africans have a fine chance of doing exactly that. They’re a superb team and have world-class players throughout their matchday 23. But the funny thing is that they’re the ones who have changed for Ireland.
Head coach Jacques Nienaber has admitted that their 7/1 bench has been designed with Ireland in mind.
It’s an aggressive move, clearly, but it is intriguing that the world champions are the ones who have shifted from their usual plan to adapt to Ireland.
In fairness, it’s a case of doubling down on their usual 6/2 bench to further accentuate their forward power. They clearly believe it’s essential to overpower this Irish team, which they weren’t able to do last November when they lost in Dublin.
The Boks have had other changes forced on them this year, most notably due to the injury issues out-half Handré Pollard has had to deal with. He’s part of the World Cup squad now, unsurprisingly, but Manie Libbok has taken over at number 10 in the meantime.
Libbok is a different type of player and brings added passing and attacking kicking threats, but he obviously hasn’t yet proven his temperament on the biggest occasions in Test rugby. This is all still new to him. Ireland will obviously be looking to get at him and they’ll hope he has another off-day from the tee. But again, the Boks will believe that Libbok can help them to challenge Ireland in a different way.
Malcolm Marx is a big injury loss for the Springboks, while Lukhanyo Am and Lood de Jager may well have been starting but for missing out on the World Cup due to injury. So the Boks have been hit with injury pain.
Ireland have virtually everyone they could have wanted to pick for this match. Cian Healy and Jack Conan are absent with injury, the latter just short of match fitness, but them aside Farrell has been able to go with his full-strength matchday 23 for the big occasion.
He is confident that his settled team can do the job, even if the Boks have a decent sense of what’s coming.
- This article was updated at 4.13pm to include mention of Jack Conan’s injury.