South Africa: Settled Boks and Rejigged Ireland Both Chasing Improved Performances in Second Test

12 July 2024
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Craig Ray

The Springboks and Ireland meet in Durban on Saturday to decide the top-ranked team in the world.

Last week was about winning. It was simply about breaking a losing streak against Ireland, and on that score the Springboks got the job done with a 27-20 win at Loftus Versfeld.

The second Test is now about momentum and maintaining a winning streak to carry into the Rugby Championship next month.

Of course, there is still the small matter of the first-ever meeting with Portugal to come in Bloemfontein next week, but that Bok team will look vastly different to the 23 players taking on Ireland at Kings Park in Durban tomorrow.

Siya Kolisi's men squaring up to Caelan Doris's unit are stacked with World Cup winners and Test caps - 990 caps in the starting XV, to be exact.

Centres Damien de Allende and Jesse Kriel will combine for a record 30th time in the Boks' midfield, while six of the eight players in the starting pack have more than 50 caps.

The Boks have such depth in every position now that wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, with 16 caps, is the least experienced player in the starting team. There was a time when having nearly 20 caps was considered experienced.

This matters because the Boks have so many...

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