Johannesburg - The last time the Springboks played Ireland on the Emerald Isle they were humbled.
The 2017 Test on November 11 ended in a humiliating 38-3 defeat – a lone penalty from Elton Jantjies in the 44th minute ensuring that the Boks, at least, did not end the clash with an embarrassing egg to their name.
Most famously and rather mortifying for SA supporters, it resulted in the host of the RTE studio panel to comment at half-time: “A lot of people have been going on about the Irish jersey.
“The tradition in rugby union is that the home union changes to facilitate the away side. Now, Ireland only really clash with South Africa, so instead of going for white, we went for grey.
“But if you are confused, the team that is Ireland is the team that is disciplined, organised and half-decent. South Africa are the other team because they are very, very poor.”
Yikes.
Lood de Jager was in that starting XV in that Test – which remains SA’s biggest defeat at the hands of the Irish, and on Tuesday he briefly reminisced on that degrading loss.
“It is hard to forget,” the lanky Bok lock admitted.
“It was a tough game and a low point for us as a team. But it was five years ago. (Saturday) is still going to be a really tough challenge, but hopefully it will be a better day at the office.”
That match would be one of the last Tests that Allister Coetzee would be at the helm for, and would be swiftly replaced in the new year by Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber.
The Boks have faced Ireland in 26 Tests and have beaten them on 18 occasions, with one draw. South Africa’s away record against Ireland – currently the No 1-ranked team in the world – is solid, although it has faltered somewhat in recent years.
The two teams have clashed on 16 occasions on Irish soil, with the Boks winning nine of those, plus a singular draw. The last time the Boks won in Ireland was in 2012, when they recorded back-to-back victories at the Aviva Stadium.
Since then, the two nations have played five Tests against each other, the Irish enjoying the rub-of-the-green with three victories to two, including that most recent and ignominious defeat.
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