South Africa will face Ireland in a crucial Nations Championship match in Dublin on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 18:40.
The Springboks must respond to their disappointing defeat by France if they are to keep their position in the competition firmly in their own hands.
Although South Africa’s loss to Les Bleus was partly softened by New Zealand’s unexpected defeat by Wales on Saturday, the All Blacks still lead the Springboks by one point in the southern hemisphere table of the Nations Championship.
That leaves South Africa needing to pursue a bonus-point victory against Ireland. New Zealand’s next fixture is against England, adding further importance to the result in Dublin.
The Springboks will travel from France to Ireland on Saturday for their third Nations Championship match in Dublin. They won 24-13 on their previous visit to the city a year ago, but meetings between South Africa and Ireland have developed into particularly intense contests.
South Africa lock Ruan Nortje said the squad was aware of the scale of the challenge awaiting them.
“We know a massive challenge awaits us next week in Ireland,” he said after the defeat by France. “We know it’s a rivalry that’s been building up the last few years.
“It’s always a massive game there. I think we have our work cut out for ourselves.
“We’re going to have to put massive focus on ourselves this week. Make sure we fix a lot of areas of our game.”
The Springboks created opportunities against France but were unable to convert enough of them, while their opponents took advantage of the chances that came their way.
Captain Siya Kolisi said South Africa understood the areas that required attention before the Ireland match.
“Early in the first half (against France) we created opportunities in the wide channels that we didn’t take, and when they created chances, they took them straight away. So, we could have been better in many areas.
“However, the effort and hard work was there from our team, and they fought till the end. But if you create so many opportunities and don’t take them against a team like this, you’re not going to get the win. We know what we need to fix, and hopefully we will play better next week.”
