While the sides will face stiff opposition in the quarter-finals regardless of where they finish on the standings with France and New Zealand lying in wait. A win here would be a massive psychological coup.
Ireland v South Africa
Saturday 23 September
Stade de France
Ireland 23/20 | Draw 20/1 | South Africa 7/10
The Irish have enjoyed a stellar start to their World Cup campaign racking up two big wins in Rounds 1 and 2 of the Pool phase. They started their campaign off with a 82-8 win over Eastern European minnows Romania. They were unphased for the most part in that fixture with Romania only giving them problems during the opening five or so minutes of the fixture.
They then clashed with Tonga this past weekend and coach Andy Farrell took a massive gamble by fielding a near full strength side against the hard-hitting men from the Pacific. The gamble fully paid off, however, as Ireland romped home to their second bonus point win of the competition as they emerged 59-16 victors.
They also managed to avoid injuries to key players with only prop Finlay Bealham sustaining a head injury that may rule him out of Saturday’s clash with South Africa. There is further good news for Ireland with first choice hooker Dan Sheehan set to return having overcome a foot injury.
South Africa have also enjoyed a great start to their campaign claiming victories over Scotland (18-3) and Romania (76-0). Unlike Ireland, they have suffered a major injury blow since the start of the tournament with dynamic hooker Malcom Marx ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury. The Springbok brain trust has opted against calling up the next hooker in-line, Joseph Dweba, and have instead recalled World Cup winning fly-half Handre Pollard.
With the Springbok kickers struggling from the tee, the return of Pollard has seeming come at just the right time and I would not be surprised to see him brought into the matchday squad due to a late ‘injury’ withdrawal.
South Africa are also sweating on the fitness of prop Vincent Koch, who pulled out of the clash with Romania during the warm-up with an unspecified knee injury. There was good news for the Springbok contingent early in the week, however, with Eben Etzebeth recovering from his shoulder injury quicker than expected. The big man is likely to come straight back into the starting line-up for this pivotal clash.
The return of Etzebeth is a massive plus for the Springbok, who will now feel as though they have the upper hand in the physical stakes. The return of Pollard has also come at the perfect time as he is just the man to take control of this game in the second half should he make the match day 23.
Verdict: South Africa
