Winning two Tests in South Africa this July would be Ireland’s greatest achievement, writes MARK KEOHANE.
This season’s Springbok schedule is a South African supporter’s dream. Ireland, at home in a two-Test series in the first fortnight of July and the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town on successive weekends to complete the Rugby Championship. This is the best of the best.
The game’s top-three ranked sides in battle in the Republic.
Then there is the challenge of the Wallabies in Australia for successive Tests, a country in which the Boks have won just three and drawn two Tests in the 30 played since South Africa’s international rugby readmission in 1992.
Ireland’s visit is the most anticipated, even if the All Blacks in South Africa is always the most popular fixture of the Test season for Bok supporters.
Ireland have not played in the Republic since 2016 when they won their first-ever Test against the Springboks in South Africa. They also did it playing with 14 against 15 at Newlands after South African-born-and-raised No 8 CJ Stander was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Springbok flyhalf Pat Lambie.
Ireland, since that historic match, have also gone to New Zealand and triumphed in a Test and a Test series for the first time. They did so in 2022, having lost the opening tour match to the Maori All Blacks and the first of a three-Test series to the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland.
The mental resolve and strength of the Irish was highlighted in them winning the second match against the Maori All Blacks and completing the five-game tour with successive Test wins against the All Blacks.
The series win against the All Blacks is Ireland’s biggest international rugby achievement, albeit the series win came against an All Blacks squad in disarray at the time.
I believe winning a series in July against the Springboks in South Africa will be an even bigger achievement for Ireland because of the quality of the Springboks and the fact that they are the current world champions and ranked No 1 in the world.
Ireland and the Springboks don’t play each other enough in South Africa and they just don’t play each other enough. Period.
There have only been two Tests between the two best teams in the world in the past seven years. The first was a 19-16 win for Ireland in Dublin in 2022 and the second was a 13-8 win for Ireland at Paris’ Stade de France in a World Cup pool match late last year. The Springboks would recover to win the World Cup and Ireland would lose 28-24 to the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.
The All Blacks, who will tour South Africa in 2026 to play three Tests and four matches against the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, will always be South Africa’s primary rugby foe.
But Ireland will in the next decade become a Springbok fixture that rivals the All Blacks in anticipation, such is the quality of their national squad and the influence of their four provinces who play in the United Rugby Championship alongside the South African quartet.
– This column first appeared in the August 2024 issue of SA Rugby magazine.
Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
The post Springboks-Ireland a series to savour appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
