Ireland vs. South Africa: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Rugby Preview
Ireland face a mighty task on Saturday as they kick off their autumn internationals against a South Africa side recently buoyed by a huge result.
At the beginning of last month, Heyneke Meyer's Springboks did something no other international side had done for two years and beat world champions New Zealand, winning 27-25 in Johannesburg, per The Telegraph:
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Coming off the back of such a win and with amazing quality in their side, the visitors are the favourites for the Aviva Stadium clash in Dublin, but the 2014 Six Nations champions will feel confident of finding a win in front of their home fans.
Read on for full scheduling, television and live streaming details ahead of the encounter as well as a full preview for what should be a blistering occasion.
Date: Saturday, Nov. 8
Time: 5:30 p.m. GMT, 12:30 p.m. ET
TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK only)
Live Stream: Sky Go
Preview
South Africa coach Meyer has taken the rare, if unsurprising, move of announcing an unnamed first team for Saturday's match in Dublin, relying on the same 15 that beat the Kiwis last month.
The 20-year-old fly-half Handre Pollard keeps his place over the more experienced Morne Steyn. This is his reward for scoring 19 points—including two tries—against the All Blacks.
While the starting team stays the same, there is one change on the bench as Coenie Oosthuizen replaces injured prop Marcel van der Merwe, and Meyer is looking for continued improvement, per Reuters via The Guardian:
"It’s only the fifth time in what will be the 34th Test since I was appointed as Springbok coach that I’ve been able to select an unchanged starting lineup. In this day and age not making changes to teams is pretty much unheard of, but this is a great position we’re in. However, we need to make it count against a very tough Irish side on Saturday. Although we won our last Test, the challenge this week is to make another step up. It’s imperative that we improve in all facets of our play.
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The South Africans worked on a more attractive, running style of rugby during the Rugby Championship, and it paid dividends with a second-place finish and the defeat of New Zealand.
However, whether they will stick with that style in the potentially more treacherous, wet and windy Dublin conditions remains to be seen.
If they do, their handling will have to be excellent or else they could hand Ireland several advantages. Victor Matfield has referenced the fact that their autumn Tests—against England, Italy and Wales after Ireland—are essential preparation for next year's World Cup, per The Score:
"This is all focused on the World Cup, we know these are the conditions we’ll be playing in, so it’s a great start for the year leading up to the World Cup."
Indeed, the Irish have the home advantage on Saturday and will hope to use their knowledge of the conditions to their advantage.
They will be without hooker Rory Best. This is a further problem in the front row after the confirmed absences of props Cian Healy, Marty Moore and Nathan White, per Sky Sports.
As The Score's Murray Kinsella noted, Best will be hugely missed at the breakdown, especially as it will be in the pack where Ireland will look to take an advantage against the Boks:
However, skipper Paul O'Connell and his men can feel confident ahead of the Dublin encounter having only lost once so far in 2014—a narrow Six Nations defeat to England.
Johnny Sexton is set to be fit, per the Irish Times, and the fly-half will be instrumental to Ireland running a tight game on Saturday.
The hosts cannot allow South Africa to get any momentum in the game, but they have the quality to threaten them with their own play on what is set to be quite an occasion in Dublin.
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