Why Sacha at No 10 is the key to finally breaking impressive Irish

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the playmaker the Springboks have not had at No 10 in their last four Tests against an Ireland team, who have found a way to win in three of those matches, writes Mark Keohane.

For all the dominance of the Springboks under Rassie Erasmus and for five of those years, from 2019 to 2023 Jacques Nienaber and Erasmus, Ireland is the one team that has matched the Boks minute for minute, try for try and big moment after big moment.

Respect is due to the Irish because they are the one side that has no inferiority complex when it comes to Erasmus’s all-conquering back to back World Cup winners and back to back Castle Rugby Championship winners.

Erasmus and Nienaber only played one Test against Ireland in Dublin since returning from Munster, Ireland to coach the Boks in 2018.

It was in 2022 and Ireland won 19-16.

A year later, at the Stade de France in Paris, Ireland won 13-8 and the teams drew a two-test series in South Africa in 2024, with the Boks winning 27-20 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and losing with the final kick of the game 25-24 in Durban.

Those four Tests are the only historical relevance to Saturday’s match-up in Dublin because the core of the players remain from 2022, on both sides, as does the coaching leadership.

Erasmus, after the win in Pretoria, said the squad felt they had got ‘a monkey off our backs’ in beating Ireland, but Dublin, even though it has only been over one Test and 80 minutes in 2022, sits more like a Gorilla on the backs of the Boks than a Monkey.

Earlier this season the Boks stumbled at Eden Park in Auckland, losing 24-17 to the All Blacks, having found themselves 14-0 down within the opening 10 minutes. It was a massive disappointment for the squad as there was such belief they could be the history-makers to end the All Blacks unbeaten run at 50 Tests at Eden Park; a run that now sits at 52.

Dublin carries a similar kind of mission. Win there and then this squad, many of whom are into their eight International season together, would have conquered every team in their own respective backyards.

Ireland, who won 19 in succession at the Aviva Stadium before losing to the All Blacks in 2024, also got whipped by France in the Six Nations last season.

For the most the Aviva has proved a fortress and the respect of the occasion, from both sides, is emphasised by how little click bait headlines there has been in the build-up.

It has been the most dignified of days, with Erasmus heaping praise on Ireland and Irish coach Andy Farrell being as flattering of the Boks in response.

Players on both sides have said little and those who have spoken at media conferences have talked up the magnitude of the occasion and the virtues of their opposition.

The Boks, like Ireland, have said they have to be at their best to win.

Even the dark world of social media has been more an ocean of calm and reverence.

Ireland’s faithful can simply state three wins from four, one in Dublin, one in Paris and one in Durban when backing their side, while the Boks supporters comeback is to remind Irish fans of the 2023 World Cup, the 2019 World Cup, the 2007 World Cup and the 1995 World Cup, all won by the Springboks.

Statistically, half a point separates the two teams over the four Test matches, with Ireland’s 19.25 edging the Boks 18.75. In four matches, Ireland has scored 77 points to South Africa’s 75 and seven tries to six.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu was among the substitutes in Pretoria and Durban and if the Boks are to win in Dublin, he needs to be starting at No 10.

Pollard, who kicked eight penalties in Durban, also started at No 10 in Pretoria, while Damian Willemse started at No 10 in Dublin 2022 and Manie Libbok started at No 10 in Paris in 2023. In both those defeats, the missed penalties and conversions proved costly for the Boks.

Ireland have earned the right to be favourites in Dublin, even though the bookies have the Boks as favourites.

AFRICA PICKS: PREDICT THE SCORE IN DUBLIN AND WIN WITH THE BOKS

Springboks World Cup winners Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Pollard, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Kwagga Smith, Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi have all been part of those match day squads who have come second in three of the four match-ups.

Those are some power names and among the best to have ever played for the Springboks. They are also among the best in the world.

WHY KEO IS BACKING THE BOKS

There will be another opportunity in Dublin in 2026 when the Boks play a league match against Ireland in the inaugural Nations Championship, but for some of the big name veterans, this may be their last hurrah to get that elusive win in Dublin.

KEO & ZELS: RASSIE ON RED ALERT FOR DUBLIN DELIGHTS

SA RUGBY MAG: IRELAND HAVE THE BOKS NUMBER

Ireland 19 Springboks 16
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, 2022
Ireland held of a late charge by the Boks to underline their status as the No 1-ranked team in world rugby. In a tight game featuring two tries apiece, the Boks missed seven points off the kicking tee which proved crucial in the end.

Stade de France, Paris, 2023
A truly thunderous affair which lit the torch paper on the 2023 World Cup. The game was played before a crowd of over 78,000. It was epic. It was brutal. And it ended in a third consecutive win for the Irish over their southern hemisphere rivals. It was also Ireland’s 28th win out of their last 30 matches.

South Africa: Willemse; Arendse, Kriel, De Allende, Kolbe; Libbok, De Klerk; Kitshoff, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Etzebeth, Mostert, Kolisi (capt), Du Toit, Wiese. Subs: Fourie, Nche, Nyakane, Kleyn, Snyman, Van Staden, Smith, Reinach.

Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Sexton (capt), Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Furlong, Ryan, Beirne, O’Mahony, Van der Flier, Doris. Subs: Sheehan, Bealham, Kilcoyne, Henderson, Baird, Murray, Crowley, Henshaw.

Springboks 27 Ireland 20
Loftus Versveld, Pretoria, 2024
Part of an incoming two-Test tour, the Springboks managed to bag a first win against Ireland since 2016. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted afterwards that it felt great to finally get the win as “they really had our number”. Still, it was a tight contest decided on a couple of marginal calls involving the TMO. The Boks showed early season rustiness against an Ireland team who a few months earlier had claimed another Six Nations crown but managed to hold out for an important victory.

South Africa: W le Roux; C Kolbe J Kriel, D de Allende KL Arendse; H Pollard, F de Klerk; O Nche, B Mbonambi, F Malherbe; E Etzebeth, F Mostert; S Kolisi (capt), PS du Toit, K Smith. Subs: M Marx, G Steenekamp, V Koch, S Moerat, RG Snyman, M van Staden, G Williams, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Sin-bin: Arendse, 73

Ireland: J Osborne; C Nash, R Henshaw, B Aki, J Lowe; J Crowley, C Casey; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; T Beirne, J McCarthy; P O’Mahony (capt), J van der Flier, C Doris. Subs: R Kelleher, C Healy, F Bealham, J Ryan, R Baird, C Murray, C Frawley, G Ringrose.

Sin-bin: Kelleher, 78

Springboks 24 Ireland 25
King’s Park, Durban, 2024
An absolute humdinger which was decided by a last-minute drop goal by Ciaran Frawley. The win saw the series spoils shared and was a fitting way to celebrate Ireland coach Andy Farrell’s 50th match in charge. A flawless Handre Pollard slotted eight penalties to peg back Ireland, but two late Frawley drop goals proved decisive. The first one on 70 minutes got Ireland to within two, and then the final crushing blow right on the hooter to give Ireland another win in the latest instalment of an epic rivalry.