Ominously, it’s the same team that defeated New Zealand last month.
If there was ever a possibility that the Springboks might be taking their eye off the ball ahead of the meeting with Ireland at the Aviva on Saturday then it was eradicated this afternoon as Heyneke Meyer named a seriously experienced line-up.
Meyer has, rather understandably, kept faith with the same side that defeated New Zealand in the Rugby Championship last month, a starting XV that have a whopping 672 test caps between them, with a further 316 caps on the bench.
To further illustrate the experience in Meyer’s side, lock Victor Matfield will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok (117 caps) and the oldest Springbok ever (37 years and 146 days), while former Munster centre will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre (87 caps in the position) and will captain his national team for the 31st time.
As well as being incredibly experienced, the Springboks will also come to the Aviva with an intimidating front row of Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira, who are well used to each other’s company, and plenty of talent sprinkled elsewhere throughout the side.
If we beat these guys, it’s safe to say we’ll have earned it.
South Africa team to face Ireland:
15 Willie le Roux
14 Cornal Hendricks
13 Jan Serfontein
12 Jean de Villiers (Captain)
11 Bryan Habana
10 Handré Pollard
9 Francois Hougaard
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje
6 Marcell Coetzee
5 Victor Matfield
4 Eben Etzebeth
3 Jannie du Plessis
2 Bismarck du Plessis
1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss
17 Trevor Nyakane
18 Coenie Oosthuizen
19 Bakkies Botha
20 Schalk Burger
21 Cobus Reinach
22 Pat Lambie
23 JP Pietersen
