The Springboks got their Italian job done with a hard-fought victory on Saturday, and they will next kick off against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium this weekend in their second-to-last game for the 2025 season.
Ahead of this Saturday’s clash, the Springboks have called up two more players, Bongi Mbonambi (hooker) and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop), who will join the team in Ireland on Sunday.
Meanwhile, its expected that the Springboks will be without lock Franco Mostert, who received a red card against Italy, and could now face a suspension. However, there may be some hope that sense will prevail and a disciplinary committee will expunge what was widely seen as an incorrect straight red card.
Whatever the case may, this Saturday’s clash in Dublin has all the ingredients to be one of the biggest and best Test matches of the year.
Kick off between the Springboks and Ireland is at 19:40 (SA time)
Against Italy, the Springboks again displayed their enduring fighting spirit after they were reduced to 14 men in the 12th minute when Mostert received a red card for a dangerous tackle.
Yet, for the second week in a row, they fought through to claim a memorable 32-14 victory against a determined and passionate home side.
Erasmus was visibly frustrated by what transpired with the red card and said: “It is what it is. What I say can’t make a difference. I’m just grateful that we had Ben O’Keeffe on the one side and an experienced referee (in James Doleman).
“I’m not saying it in a negative way. What I can say is that it’s sad that our captain, who had to make that sacrifice in his 100th game and in this game.”
The Bok coach elaborated: “I always thought we wanted to get to 20-minute red cards, and we have to re-check on that, but it’s not my place to talk about it. However, for a captain to twice in a week to suffer for us to win is sad.
“I’m not saying the calls were wrong, but I definitely saw a lot of other shots in the game. By that I’m not criticising, that is life, and once we review the game, we may come to a different conclusion and see that we were totally wrong, and then we have to rectify it.
“We got a red card, and they got a yellow card, which I probably thought was the right call, but losing two locks in two games now for going lower than they can go, it’s tough to understand.
“Again, I’m not saying anyone is wrong, but we don’t know how to coach guys to go lower, especially for a two-meter-tall guy to face someone who is on his knees is tough. And then to play with 13 men, and them with 14 for a while, it was tougher than last week.”
Two more matches to go for Boks
- 22 November: vs Ireland, Dublin. Kick off: 19:40.
- 29 November: vs Wales, Cardiff. Kick off: 17:10.
