Nortje says Boks are determined to rectify mistakes

Springbok lock Ruan Nortje was visibly disappointed following their nail-biting 21-19 defeat on Friday against France and while he gave credit to Les Blues for pulling through in the end, he said the Boks had a lot of work to do this week to rectify things and make the country proud.

Despite a strong second-half performance, the Boks came up short in their fifth Nations Championship match of the season, at the Stade de France in Paris.

Following New Zealand’s defeat against Wales in Cardiff, in which they got two bonus points, South Africa now trial the All Blacks by one point on the southern hemisphere table, with one round to go before the Finals Weekend.

“First of all, credit to France – it was a great occasion to be a part of and it’s always a privilege to play at Stade de France,” said Nortje.

“Unfortunately, there were too many errors from our side, and we didn’t convert our chances into points when we got into their 22m area, so there are a lot of work-ons for us going into next week.

“That said, I’m proud of the effort by the boys, they never backed down and fought until the end but it’s definitely a tough one for us to swallow.”

Looking forward to Saturday’s clash against Ireland in Dublin, Nortje said: “We have a big challenge awaiting us next week. There’s been a rivalry building up with Ireland over the last few years and it’s always a massive game against them, so we’ll have our work cut out.

“The important thing is that we have to focus on ourselves and ensure we fix several areas of our game, so we can go out there and represent our country with pride. We do it for the South African people, day in and day out. It’s about making them proud, so hopefully we can rectify things next week.”

Reflecting on the match, Nortje said they always expected a massive battle against Les Bleus and he showed immense respect to them for the way the ground out the result.

“We’ve always seen a lot of flair in their game, so there was nothing unexpected,” said the lock. “All credit to them for sticking it out until the last minute to ride out the win.”

The Springboks arrived in Dublin on Saturday and will start their preparations for the match at the Aviva Stadium on Monday. This will be their penultimate Test of the 2026 season.

Springbok squad for second leg of Nations Championship

Props: Thomas du Toit, Ox Nche (both Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Zachary Porthen (all DHL Stormers), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls).

Hookers: Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).

Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stade Rochelais), Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears), Riley Norton (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat).

Loose forwards: Paul de Villiers, Siya Kolisi (both DHL Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls), Emmanuel Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Utility forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls).

Scrumhalves: Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Berg (10bet Lions), Grant Williams (Kobe Steelers).

Flyhalves: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Luan Giliomee (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners).

Centres: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Markus Muller (DHL Stormers), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls).

Outside backs: Sebastian de Klerk (Vodacom Bulls), Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Edwill van der Merwe (all Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).

Ireland v South Africa @ Aviva Stadium, Dublin - Saturday, 21 November (6.40pm)

Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)

Assistant Referee 2: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)