Ireland v Springboks: Facts and figures

IRELAND v SOUTH AFRICA – AVIVA STADIUM, DUBLIN – KO 7.40pm (SAST)

Referee

Matthew Carley (England)

Test debut: 8 March, 2014 – Russia 34-18 Portugal

Tests as referee: 48

• Matthew Carley will take charge of this fixture for the first time.

• Ireland have won all four previous matches with the English official in the middle, all of them on home soil with their 17-13 defeat of Scotland in the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations the most recent.

• The smallest victory margin in the other matches was 15 points, against the same opponents in the Autumn Nations Cup in 2020.

• South Africa lost their first two matches with Carley as referee but have won the last six Tests including one in 2025, 55-10 over Georgia in July.

• Only two of these six wins have come in Europe – 63-21 over Italy in 2022 and the 35-7 defeat of New Zealand at Twickenham in a Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up match.

• This will be Carley’s sixth Test of the year, the English official having also refereed Italy’s 22-15 win over Wales and France’s 35-16 defeat of Scotland in the Men’s Six Nations and New Zealand’s 28-14 victory against Australia in The Rugby Championship in October and Wales’ 24-23 win against Japan last weekend.

Head-to-head

Played: 30 – South Africa leads 19-10 with one draw

Points for: Ireland 457/South Africa 581 (Avg. score: 15-19)

Highest score: Ireland 38 (38-3 on 11 November, 2017)/South Africa 38 (38-0 on 30 November, 1912)

Biggest winning margin: Ireland 35 (38-3 on 11 November, 2017)/South Africa 38 (38-0 on 30 November, 1912)

First met: 24 November, 1906 – South Africa 15-12 Ireland – Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast

Last met: 13 July, 2024 – Ireland 25-24 South Africa – Kings Park, Durban

Head-to-head notes

• Ireland have won four of the last five matches between the sides, including the one-point win that levelled the two-Test series in July 2024.

• Ten of the last 12 matches have been decided by seven points or fewer.

• Matches between the teams are typically low-scoring, with only one fixture producing more than 50 points (South Africa’s 32-26 win over Ireland in 2016).

• South Africa haven’t won in Dublin since November 2012, when Pat Lambie kicked them to a 16-12 victory.

• The last three trips have ended in defeat.

• Handré Pollard kicked all of South Africa’s points the last time the sides met, a match settled 25-24 in Ireland’s favour when Ciaran Frawley struck the match-winning drop goal with the last act of the match.

• Frawley, who had kicked his first drop goal of the match 10 minutes earlier, has only made three replacement appearances for Ireland since that breathless encounter.

• The last Springbok to score a try against Ireland was Cheslin Kolbe in the 65th minute of the 27-20 win for South Africa in Pretoria, the week before the Durban Test.

Team notes

• Ireland registered their second Quilter Nations Series win in as many weeks with a 46-19 victory over Australia at this venue last Saturday.

• Starting at fullback for the first time in Test rugby, former Australia U20 player Mack Hansen scored a hat-trick inside the first half an hour.

• However, Ireland only led by 19-14 at the break, Sam Prendergast converting two of the tries.

• A drop goal from Prendergast and a penalty from the boot of Jack Crowley eased Ireland further ahead before three tries in the last 10 minutes from captain Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw, all converted by Crowley, saw Ireland win at a canter.

• It was Ireland’s highest score and biggest win against Australia.

• Ireland scored a try with every other visit into the Australian 22, averaging 3.8 points for every entry.

• It was the second home match in a row where Ireland scored more than 40 points, having beaten Japan 41-10 the week before in their opening Quilter Nations Series match.

• Tries from Jack Crowley and Nick Timoney, as well as seven points from the boot of the former, had the hosts in a 17-0 lead against Japan after half an hour.

• However, that lead was down to seven points at the break.

• Andrew Porter’s 48th-minute try gave Ireland some breathing space, before three tries in the final quarter – from Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy and Tommy O'Brien – and two Sam Prendergast conversions, gave the scoreline a more one-sided feel.

• Jacob Stockdale was sin-binned just before the break but Ireland only conceded three points in his absence and scored five themselves.

• Ireland went into the Quilter Nations Series on the back of a 26-13 defeat to New Zealand in the Gallagher Cup at Soldier Field in Chicago.

• They were reduced to 14 players a few minutes into the match when Tadhg Beirne received a yellow card, which was upgraded to red by the Foul Player Review Officer.

• Even so, they managed to lead 13-7 entering the final quarter after Crowley converted Tadhg Furlong’s try and kicked two penalties.

• However, the All Blacks rattled off 19 unanswered points in a devastating final quarter.

• Ireland failed to break New Zealand’s line in the entire match.

• Ireland struggled at lineout time as well as in attack, winning just 69% of their 16 throws with captain Dan Sheehan inaccurate with five of his 15 throws.

• It was Ireland’s first Test since their record 106-7 win over Portugal on 12 July at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor in Lisbon.

• Ireland’s previous biggest win in test rugby was an 83-3 victory over the USA in June 2000.

• It was also the most points and tries (16) that Ireland have scored in a Test.

• Stuart McCloskey got the ball rolling in the first minute before Hugh Gavin, Tommy O’Brien and Shayne Bolton piled on the misery for the host nation in a one-sided first quarter.

• Gavin, O’Brien and Bolton scored again and Tom Clarkson also crashed over as Ireland led 54-0 at the break.

• Craig Casey and Cian Prendergast took the try count into double figures shortly after the restart, before Nicolás Martins crossed in the 53rd minute to give the Portuguese fans something to cheer about, Hugo Aubry turning it into a seven-pointer with the conversion.

• From then on, it was all Ireland as Calvin Nash, Ciaran Frawley and Cian Prendergast, with his second, added further tries in the third quarter.

• Alex Kendellen and Ben Murphy got in on the act late on, and there was still time for Ireland to be awarded a penalty try.

• Crowley slotted 12 of his 15 conversion attempts (80%).

• Ireland went into that game on the back of a 34-5 win against Georgia in Tbilisi.

• Tries from debutant Tommy O'Brien, first-time captain Craig Casey and Nick Timoney earned Paul O’Connell a win in his first match as interim head coach.

• Sam Prendergast converted all four tries and kicked a couple of penalties in a flawless display of goal-kicking.

• Only a late yellow card to Stuart McCloskey blotted their copybook.

• Ireland kicked the ball 44 times in open play – their average in the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations was 28.6.

• Ireland restricted Georgia to just five entries into their 22, and conceded just the one try, while they only had their line broken once.

• Ireland finished third in the Men’s Six Nations, the first time they’d been outside the top two since 2021.

• Ireland’s hopes of a fourth Grand Slam of the Men’s Six Nations era (2009, 2018, 2023) were dashed by a rampant France team in round four.

• They conceded a record number of points to France at home in losing 42-27, their only defeat of the campaign.

• Ireland trailed 8-6 after a tight first half, two Sam Prendergast penalties accounting for their points.

• Sheehan scored a brace in the second half to take him to 10 Men’s Six Nations career tries, becoming the first forward to get to double figures in championship history.

• Sheehan also scored a hat-trick in the 22-17 win away to Italy in the final round, placing him as the joint-second highest try scorer in the 2025 edition, along with England’s Tommy Freeman and behind only France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey (eight).

• Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash saw yellow in the France setback – Ireland’s only yellow cards of the tournament. However, they did also pick up one red (Garry Ringrose v Wales).

• Ireland conceded the fewest penalties (40) at an average of just eight per game.

• Ireland scored (63%) and conceded (61%) the bulk of their points in the second half of matches.

• Nine of the 14 tries Ireland conceded came after half-time.

• Ireland had the worst goal-kicking success rate in the championship (67%), with only 10 of their 17 tries converted.

• South Africa have three players nominated for the World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year 2025 in Ox Nche (the first prop in the history of the award), Malcolm Marx and two-time winner Pieter-Steph du Toit. Ethan Hooker is also nominated for the World Rugby

• Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year.

• South Africa countered the loss of a player to a red card for the second consecutive match in defeating Italy 32-14 in Turin.

• Seven days after Lood de Jager's dismissal in the win over France, fellow second-row Franco Mostert was sent off in the 12th minute, it was later rescinded.

• The Springboks led 10-3 at half-time thanks to Marco van Staden's try and five points from the boot of Pollard.

• Pollard kicked a second penalty 10 minutes into the second half before tries from Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams and Hooker, plus a Manie Libbok conversion, took the Springboks to a convincing victory.

• The win over Italy extended the Springboks’ winning run to six matches.

• They managed the feat earlier this year when they won seven consecutive matches from Scotland last November to their 55-10 victory over George in July.

• In-form fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored South Africa’s fourth try and kicked 12 points as the Springboks overturned a 14-13 half-time deficit to beat France 32-17.

• The Springboks lost De Jager to a permanent red card in the dying throes of the first half when he made contact with Thomas Ramos' head with his shoulder, the Bok No 5 lost his appeal against the red card earlier this week.

• At that point, France led by the slenderest of margins thanks to a Damian Penaud brace and Ramos’ two conversions.

• Cobus Reinach scored a brilliant solo try for South Africa, Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting to add to two earlier penalties.

• Andre Esterhuizen and Williams scored tries in a dominant second-half display by South Africa before Feinberg-Mngomezulu had the final say.

• It was 14 v 14 for 10 minutes of the second half when Bielle-Biarrey was sin-binned on 64 minutes.

• The victory was a fitting way for South Africa to celebrate Siya Kolisi’s 100th Test cap and Rassie Erasmus’ 50th match in charge of the team.

• Feinberg-Mngomezulu has scored 33 points in November, having bagged 16 points in the 61-7 win over Japan the previous weekend.

• He scored twice inside the opening quarter at Wembley and also kicked three conversions, while Kurt Lee-Arendse bagged a second-half brace.

• Captain Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel were the other players to cross the whitewash for South Africa, who were also awarded a penalty try.

• Libbok slotted four conversions.

• The Springboks’ remaining Quilter Nations Series match is against Wales (in Cardiff on 29 November).

Team news

• Ireland have made four personnel and one positional change for their final match of the year against South Africa.

• Porter returns at loosehead to join Sheehan and Furlong in a familiar front-row for Irish fans, with James Ryan and Berine continuing their second-row combination.

• Captain Doris shifts to No 8 to accommodate the return of Josh van der Flier at openside. Baird retains the No 6 jersey having been among the try scorers against Australia last weekend.

• Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast continue at half-back but will have Bundee Aki and Ringrose outside them this weekend.

• The back three of James Lowe, O’Brien and hat-trick hero Hansen is unchanged.

• Two players come into the match-day 23 this weekend in replacements Finlay Bealham and Tom Farrell.

• South Africa revert back to a similar starting line-up to their victory over France a fortnight ago with Leinster second-row RG Snyman in line to play his 50th Test for the world champions in Dublin after being named among the replacements.

• Boan Venter, Marx and Thomas du Toit form the front row.

• Eben Etzebeth plays his 140th Test for South Africa alongside Ruan Nortje in the second row while a familiar back-row trio of captain Kolisi, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese complete the pack.

• Reinach and Feinberg-Mngomezulu are reunited at half-back with Damian de Allende and Kriel continuing their centre pairing.

• Canan Moodie comes onto the wing with Arendse having returned to South Africa due to being unavailable with a concussion, joining Kolbe and Damian Willemse in the back three.

Coach notes

• Andy Farrell returned to his Ireland head coach duties this month.

• He handed over the reins to Simon Easterby during the Guinness Men’s Six Nations and to Paul O’Connell for the two Tests against Georgia and Portugal in July.

• Farrell took time out from the role to prepare and then lead the British & Irish Lions in Australia, the tourists winning the series with the Wallabies 2-1.

• Farrell has won 45 of his 57 matches in charge of Ireland, giving him a win percentage of 79%. That makes him the most successful permanent head coach of Ireland in the professional era.

• Farrell’s record as head coach of Ireland in the Men’s Six Nations is 19 wins from 25 matches (76%).

• Under Farrell, Ireland were ranked No 1 in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings between July 2022 and October 2023 – the longest ever reign at the top by a northern hemisphere team and also for six weeks from the end of September through to the second weekend of the Autumn Nations Series in 2024.

• Rassie Erasmus returned to the Springboks head coach role in February 2024, signing a contract that takes him up to the end of 2027.

• The win over France at Stade de France on Saturday, 8 November, was his 50th as head coach.

• He has overseen 25 Tests in his second spell as head coach, winning 21 and losing four (84%).

• Erasmus was the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – as head coach and then director of rugby.

• He also led South Africa to their first Rugby Championship title in five years in 2024 and a clean sweep of victories in the Autumn Nations Series that followed.

• His first reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington, DC, in June 2018.

• Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.

Ranking highlights

• Samoa became the 24th and final qualifier for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 after a thrilling 13-13 draw with Belgium in the decisive match of the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai on Tuesday but it is a result which will drop them into Band 4 for the Draw.

• They lose 0.51 rating points for the draw against the lower-ranked Belgians, dropping them to 19th and there is no opportunity for Samoa to improve on that with Chile, Tonga and Uruguay unable to drop below them this weekend.

• Chile and Tonga will not lose any points for defeats against the higher-ranked Italy and Scotland respectively, while even if Uruguay lose to Romania by more than 15 points they would still be 0.09 rating points better off than Samoa.

• Portugal and Romania, currently 20th and 21st, cannot earn enough points by beating Canada and Uruguay to reach Band 3.

• South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland and Argentina cannot drop out of Band 1 for the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, although the same cannot be said for France.

• Les Bleus will drop two places to seventh if they lose to Australia by more than 15 points, an outcome which will see the Wallabies placed into Pool A of Band 1 as the host nation.

• Argentina’s comeback victory over Scotland last weekend means that they will remain in the sixth even if they suffer a heavy loss to England in the last match of the weekend.

• There will also be plenty of eyes on Tbilisi where 11th-ranked Georgia host Japan in 13th.

• Georgia will secure a place in Band 2 for the Draw if they avoid defeat against Japan.

• A draw will see the Lelos drop below Wales into 12th place, even if the Welsh are beaten by New Zealand given they will lose no rating points as a consequence of the 16.09-point differential between the teams before home weighting is factored in.

• Japan must beat Georgia to replace the Lelos in the top 12 after they their last-gasp 24-23 loss to Wales last weekend in Cardiff.

• Fiji, Scotland and Italy are also guaranteed their place in Band 2 regardless of their results against the lower-ranked Spain, Tonga and Chile respectively.

• The Flying Fijians can only gain a maximum of 0.16 rating points for beating Spain, meaning they cannot improve on eighth place even if Australia above them lose to France.

• Scotland and Italy will not gain any rating points for beating Tonga and Chile.

• However, Scotland will regain the eighth place they lost after letting slip a 21-0 advantage over Argentina to lose last weekend if they win and Fiji lose to Spain.

• Scotland will drop to 10th if they suffer a second loss to Tonga and Italy beat Chile, dropping the Scots below Italy for the first time since February 2013.

• That would become 11th if they lose by more than 15 points and Wales stun New Zealand by the same margin, the Welsh returning to the top 10 for the first time since July 2024.

• South Africa cannot surrender the No 1 ranking this weekend, even if they lose by more than 15 points to Ireland in Dublin.

• The Springboks can gain up to 1.32 points for beating Ireland by more than 15 points and it is possible that their cushion at the top could be as much as 6.57 points if New Zealand and England suffer similarly heavy losses to Wales and Argentina respectively.

• If that scenario plays out then Argentina would be their closest rival, Los Pumas jumping four places to a new high of second.

• Argentina, though, are one of four teams that could end the weekend in second place with New Zealand, Ireland and England also eyeing the spot.

• New Zealand could win and still lose second spot, if Ireland beat the Springboks by more than 15 points.

• England will move to second if they beat Los Pumas – taking their winning run to 11 tests – and New Zealand and Ireland fail to win their final matches of the year.

• New Zealand can fall no lower than fourth if beaten by Wales in Cardiff, while the lowest England can fall is sixth with a heavy loss.

• Further down the rankings, Uruguay will equal their all-time high of 14th if they beat Romania in Bucharest and Spain lose at home to Fiji.

• This will be the first time since June 2005 that Uruguay have been as high.

• However, if Uruguay lose and Chile create history in their first meeting with Italy, then it is Los Cóndores who will become the second highest ranked team in South America in 15th.

• This would be a new high as Chile’s previous best is 17th but they can gain another place if they beat Italy by more than 15 points and Spain lose to Fiji.

• Tonga could also end the weekend in 14th spot, although that would require them to beat Scotland by more 15 points and for other results to go their way.

• Romania will return to the top 20 if they beat Uruguay and Portugal lose to Canada.

• Belgium, despite missing out on RWC 2027, could still end the week equalling their highest position of 21st if Romania lose to Uruguay.

• Namibia’s 40-31 win over Brazil in the other Final Qualification Tournament match on Tuesday keeps them in 27th and condemns Os Tupis to a two-place drop to 32nd.

• Meanwhile, the only Rugby Europe Men’s Trophy 2025-26 match this weekend will see Czechia become the higher-ranked of the two nations if they can beat Poland. 

Match official highlights

• Hollie Davidson (Scotland) will take charge of Wales and New Zealand for the first time when they meet at the Principality Stadium, the second time the Scottish official has refereed a Test between a Men's Six Nations and Rugby Championship team.

• Luke Pearce (England) will referee his 60th Test with France v Australia, moving to joint-eighth on the list of most-capped match officials in test history. He referees this fixture for the second time, having been in the middle for France’s 41-17 victory at this venue in a Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up match.

• Adam Leal (England) takes charge of both Italy and Chile for the first time in a Test when the sides meet for the inaugural time in Genoa.

• Luc Ramos (France) referees Scotland for the first time in a test when they meet Tonga, a side he has already overseen once this year in their 62-24 loss to Japan in the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup semi-final in September.

• Pierre Brousset (France) will take charge of England v Argentina for the first time, having already refereed both teams once in 2025 with England's victory over Scotland at this venue in the Men's Six Nations and Argentina's 41-24 loss to New Zealand in The Rugby Championship.

• Eoghan Cross (Ireland) referees Georgia v Japan for the first time, although he has been in the middle for both teams this year. The Lelos beat Spain in the Rugby Europe Men's Championship in February, while Japan were beaten 61-7 by South Africa earlier this month.

• Jérémy Rozier (France) takes charge of Romania in a test for the first time when they face Uruguay in Bucharest. It will be the third time the Frenchman referees Uruguay this year, having overseen both legs of the Sudaméricano 2025 final against Chile.

• Morné Ferreira (South Africa) referees Portugal and Canada for the first time when they meet in Coimbra.

• Damián Schneider (Argentina) brings up 30 Tests in the middle when he takes charge of Spain v Fiji in Malaga. He has already refereed the Flying Fijians in 2025 with their victory over Japan in the Asahi Super Dry Pacific Nations Cup final in September.

Springboks v Ireland (Aviva Stadium, Dublin) - 7.40pm

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (RFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)

FPRO: Dan Jones (RFU)

Ireland starting XV: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe; 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 8 Caelan Doris (capt), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird; 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan; 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter. Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Cian Prendergast, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Tom Farrell.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe; 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt); 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth; 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Boan Venter. Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Andre Esterhuizen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.