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It’s funny how a narrative can evolve. Two weeks ago, Ireland were a To falter, to fail, old age has reached its peak And a major reconstruction is needed. andy farrellIt was said that he had failed to revive a champion team in time, leaving behind the days of Six Nations Grand Slam and World Cup competition. An old school scrap over the number 10 shirt along Leinster/Munster lines had yet to reach a satisfactory conclusion; Those who left were not adequately replaced, while the elder statesmen who remained were no longer providing the necessary influence to compete at the top level. Forget for a moment the fact that many of them had just arrived Part of British and Irish Lions series success – A crisis is clearly looming.
The win over Australia clearly hasn’t cured all ills as they limped over the line in a marathon year, but there is a new sense of optimism around Ireland as they prepare themselves for a meeting with the reigning world champions. springboksThere remain some lingering concerns over the age profile of Farrell’s squad but, as the top international coach says, things are rarely as bad as commentators might suggest, Of course, this was a team that lost twice in 2025 – although aspects of France’s desecration of their Six Nations And while Chicago’s flat performance against New Zealand was a bad side, it clearly wasn’t.
The encounter with the Springboks is even more fascinating race erasmusThe side, in a different world, would be grappling with the same questions as Ireland. It was Erasmus himself who, helpfully, shared a now-deleted graphic on This is not a one-off case – the starting XV deployed by South Africa in their victory over France was a full 12 months older than the starting XV fielded by Ireland against the All Blacks.
You’ll notice that there are fewer claims that back-to-back World Cup winners have been on top, have been around longer or are older. Why? Well, winning obviously helps. There were many voices raised after the loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship that South Africa could soon pay the price of their over-reliance on an aging core, only for that group to be decisive, of course. Silenced by a record win in Wellington a week later.
It helps, too, that the next generation is knocking on the Springboks’ door more decidedly than their Irish counterparts: for example, Sascha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has had a much easier (in every sense) step up to Test level than a similar tender. Sam Prendergast – Prendergast may become a top fly in time, because he has the tools to become one, but Feinberg-Mngomezulu is already there. There was something almost comical about ireland Delivering for the first time at the 32-year-old center Against Japan, however, Tom Farrell’s first cap was well deserved when he finally earned it.
A structure such as that employed by Irish rugby, while admirable in many ways, is not necessarily best suited for the rapid development of young talent. Having only four provinces and therefore encouraging top players to stay in the country naturally stunts the development of some – take Paddy McCarthy, perhaps, the loosehead now playing regularly for Leinster, having played a combined 135 minutes in the United Rugby Championship before this season. Perhaps the aim is to retain a large proportion of proven Test talent in the country and there is always a balance to be struck between the young fresh faces and the wisdom of the experienced faces and seasoned heads.
Providing opportunities for young players is not a problem unique to Ireland, but perhaps the natural challenges of rebuilding are heightened when they arrive. It’s easy to forget the time it took Farrell to turn around and build his team after taking over from Joe Schmidt’s team, which had reached its peak very quickly. If there’s any sense then the 2023 World Cup – in which they beat the eventual winners – was their golden opportunity alongside Calen Dorris, Dan Sheehan and co. Having reached its peak, there is certainly reason to believe that Ireland will bounce back.
Looking at South Africa, it often seems that their talent pool is almost limitless, but their place is being taken by such people eben etzebeth And he is colissi When the time comes, it won’t necessarily be as simple as giving someone space. Will that opportunity be there before another World Cup is contested in Australia? Maybe not, but it is an absolute truth that one day it will come. However, it can be said he rotation policy of erasmus The Springboks may benefit from developing the next generation.
You get the feeling that whatever the story around Ireland, a win this weekend will be crucial in re-establishing their position in the upper echelon of Test teams. Meanwhile, the Springboks have not beaten Ireland in Dublin under Erasmus nor, indeed, beaten them since the aforementioned pool stage defeat, splitting the July series last year. Their head coach said, “As a coach I haven’t won in the Aviva, even with Munster.” “We played the Scarlets in the Pro12 final and we lost here, and when we played against Saracens in the European Cup we lost here, and I think we’ve coached here three times and we haven’t won here.
“I want to put it right. No, it hasn’t changed. It would be great for all of us to say we managed to get one in Dublin because they certainly had our number in the last few games.”