The Ireland boss will name his squad for the South Africa tour on Wednesday.
WHAT A STRANGE feeling it must have been for the Leinster players standing on the pitch at Loftus Versfeld after defeat to the Bulls and hearing The Cranberries’ Zombie blasting out around the stadium in Pretoria.“In your head, in your head… Rassie, Rassie Rassie!” roared the South African supporters who had just gleefully watched the Bulls players greet the final whistle like they’d won a trophy.
This was supposed to be Irish rugby’s new anthem but the Springboks supporters repurposed it during the World Cup in tribute to their enigmatic leader, Rassie Erasmus. Unsurprisingly, the man himself loved it. Advertisement Just like that, the Irish provincial season is over and it has been a trophyless one. Connacht didn’t make the URC play-offs, Ulster recovered from a wobbly patch to at least feature in the quarter-finals, while Munster and Leinster were beaten in semi-finals that they were favoured to win. Leinster reached the Champions Cup final but came up short in devastating fashion for the third year in a row.
Munster and Leinster’s player will lick their wounds in the coming days before attention switches to the Springboks series, one that the South Africans are champing at the bit for. Erasmus’ men will be channelling the spirit that the Bulls brought for their win over Leinster. There are obvious themes for Ireland such as taking down the back-to-back world champions and winning a series in South Africa for the first time. Farrell’s men will be in the role of underdogs, regardless of what Erasmus or anyone else says. The Boks have already been installed as five-point favourites for the first Test.Ireland have only played in Loftus once before, losing 33-0 to a Springboks team that included a back row by the name of Rassie Erasmus.
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