Get ready to dive into pre-match analysis. Up first is John O’Sullivan, our correspondent in South Africa, who had a chat with Josh van der Flier ahead of the game. There was some amusing mix-up with his surname, to the extent that local people began addressing him in Afrikaans!
[ Van der Flier jovially handles locals speaking Afrikaans to him as Ireland set sights on beating the Springboks ]
As for Team Ireland, their choice to play new talent may have been spurred by the injury to Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan opting to participate in the Olympics Sevens. Craig Casey takes the number nine spot and, in a big surprise, Jamie Osborne is stepping in as an international debutant at fullback. Even though, his last professional experience in this role dates back to 2022. He’s been commendable playing for Leinster this season, but at centre, and not as part of the back three. Given Keenan’s absence, Farrell – a long time Osborne admirer – saw a chance to include him in the squad.
After much anticipation and an onslaught of verbal shots, mainly from the South African side, it’s finally time for rugby. Ireland hasn’t suffered a defeat at the hands of South Africa since 2016. This is probably fueling some of the bitterness. South Africa’s determination to claim this series is clear in the squad they’ve assembled.
Rugby history tells us that Rassie Erasmus often uses games post-World Cup to test out his latest line-up of gifted, hulking players. But that’s not the case this time. All starters are World Cup victors, with 20 of the total 23 players having participated in France last year.
Significant additions to the team include Kwagga Smith, who’s stepping in for the now retired Duane Vermeulen at number eight, and Wille le Roux. He’ll be taking fullback duty over from Damian Willemse. Le Roux’s exceptional kicking skills were instrumental in the Bulls’ recent defeat of Leinster at this venue in the URC semi-finals, which seems to have impacted the selection decisions.
Greetings everyone, and thank you for joining us for real-time updates on the summer rugby match! My name is Nathan Johns (@nathanrjohns), and I’ll be taking you through every moment of the game live from the Loftus Versfeld stadium. We have a thrilling game lined up today: South Africa, the World Champions, facing off against Ireland, who currently hold the second global rank, in Pretoria.
The match begins at 4pm. We’ll continue with the pre-match build-up until the game commences.