Ireland won their first test on South African soil when they beat the Springboks by 26-20 at Newlands, Cape Town, on the 11th June 2016. Irelands first victory against South Africa came on April 10th, 1965 in Dublin, with the home team recording a hard fought 9-6 triumph. They came close five years later at the same venue when they just failed to chalk up a second consecutive victory, tying with the Springboks 6-6. Their next victory was on the 13th November 2004, in Dublin, when they won 17-12.
Irelands first victory against South Africa came on April 10th, 1965 in Dublin, with the home team recording a hard fought 9-6 triumph. They came close five years later at the same venue when they just failed to chalk up a second consecutive victory, tying with the Springboks 6-6.
- Springbok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse will start the match with an impressive try-scoring record of 12 tries in 11 Tests.
- Springbok centre Damian de Allende will reach the 75 Test mark when he takes the field on Saturday.
- Saturday’s match will be the first time the Springboks and Ireland clash at a Rugby World Cup, making it the first Test between the two sides at a neutral venue.
- Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi, Faf de Klerk and Damian de Allende are the only players left from the last time the Boks beat Ireland – on 25 June 2016, in Nelson Mandela Bay.
- Kitshoff and Mbonambi made their Springbok debuts in the same match against Ireland seven years ago, while De Klerk and Mostert debuted earlier in that series against the Irish.
- Replacement forwards Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman and Marco van Staden will face Ireland for the first time.
- The Springboks have won their last seven Tests in the French capital. Their last defeat in the city was in 2005 by France (20-26).
- Miscellaneous:
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 833.
- There are 271 caps in the backline, with 562 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 208 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 38, the forwards 70, while the players on the bench average 26
Date Status Team Score Team Score Venue 24/11/06 Test South Africa 15 Ireland 12 Belfast 30/11/12 Test South Africa 38 Ireland 12 Dublin 19/12/31 Test South Africa 38 Ireland 0 Dublin 08/12/51 Test South Africa 8 Ireland 3 Dublin 17/12/60 Test South Africa 17 Ireland 5 Dublin 13/5/61 Test South Africa 24 Ireland 8 Newlands 10/04/65 Test South Africa 6 Ireland 9 Dublin 10/01/70 Test South Africa 8 Ireland 8 Dublin 30/05/81 Test South Africa 23 Ireland 15 Newlands 06/06/81 Test South Africa 12 Ireland 10 Durban 13/06/98 Test South Africa 37 Ireland 13 Bloemfontein 20/06/98 Test South Africa 33 Ireland 0 Pretoria 28/11/98 Test South Africa 27 Ireland 13 Dublin 19/11/00 Test South Africa 28 Ireland 18 Dublin 12/06/04 Test South Africa 31 Ireland 17 Bloemfontein 19/06/04 Test South Africa 26 Ireland 17 Cape Town 13/11/04 Test South Africa 12 Ireland 17 Dublin 28/11/09 Test South Africa 10 Ireland 15 Dublin 6/11/10 Test South Africa 23 Ireland 21 Dublin 10/11/12 Test South Africa 16 Ireland 12 Dublin 08/11/14 Test South Africa 15 Ireland 27 Dublin 11/06/16 Test South Africa 20 Ireland 26 Newlands 18/06/16 Test South Africa 32 Ireland 26 Ellis Park 25/06/16 Test South Africa 19 Ireland 13 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium 11/11/17 Test South Africa 3 Ireland 38 Dublin 05/11/22 Test South Africa 16 Ireland 19 Dublin Total Points: 537 374