Ireland faces South Africa at the Stade de France this Saturday evening for the clash of Group B of the World Cup. Andy Farrell’s men face the world champions who will present a 7-1 bench (seven forwards for one back). So how can the Irish contain the power of the Springboks and implement their game?

Tight Attack

To get the better of South Africa’s excellent inverted defense, the Irish will have to attack tightly. That’s good. Jonathan Sexton’s teammates know how to do it. Ireland perfectly attacks the middle of the field by narrowing the space between its attackers, to then better free its wingers. In fact, during the last meeting between South Africa and Ireland in Dublin in November 2022, the Irish tried to implement this tactic.

Tempo at the Start, Resilience at the End

The choice to start Jamison Gibson-Park and then bring Conor Murray off the bench shows that the Irish will want to set the pace at the beginning of the match and better manage the end of the game with Murray’s foot. Against the South African bench, the Irish will try in the second half to clear as far as possible, and maybe also not to find touch! This would prevent the South Africans from setting up mauls, and thus from asserting their physical power and the freshness of the substitutes.

Combinations and Innovations

One of Ireland’s strengths, historically speaking, is its ability to innovate and perform original combinations. Against South Africa, Peter O’Mahony’s teammates will have to implement the plays written in the notebooks of attack coach Mike Catt.