Four changes for Ireland ahead of the second Test in Durban, with Caelan Doris taking over the captain’s armband; watch South Africa face Ireland live on Sky Sports Main Event and Action with kick-off at 4pm on Saturday
Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony has dropped to the bench while Bundee Aki is ruled out for Ireland’s second Test against South Africa in Durban on Saturday – live on Sky Sports.
Needing a win over the Springboks to level the series, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made four changes to the side that lost 27-20 to the world champions last weekend in a heavyweight encounter at Loftus Versfeld.
O’Mahony has been named on the bench, with Caelan Doris to instead captain the side for the second time, at Kings Park.
“You don’t expect those conversations to be easy and don’t get me wrong, he not accepting and he’s not happy obviously but he does the right thing for the team,” he said.
Conor Murray races over to score a late try and keep Ireland in the hunt against South Africa.
“That’s at the forefront of his mind constantly, and that’s proper leadership. He understands that we want to have a look in this direction to see how it goes.
“He’s the captain of this tour and it shows the mark of the man how you lead after a bit of disappointment, how you carry on being yourself or not.”
Farrell added: “I’m more than fully confident in Doris, I thought he was excellent at the weekend. The questions he’s going to the referees with are the right ones, his manner is good.”
The injured Craig Casey is replaced by Conor Murray at scrum-half but Jamie Osborne and Robbie Henshaw have both been passed fit to play from the start after being forced off in last Saturday’s first Test.
With centre Aki not in the squad after sustaining a shoulder issue, Garry Ringrose is named to partner Henshaw, who moves to inside centre.
In the second positional change from the opening match, Tadhg Beirne drops in to the back row to replace the benched O’Mahony at blindside flanker
Ireland are chasing only their second ever win over the Springboks on South African soil in Durban.
Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Joe McCarthy; 5. James Ryan, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris (c)
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey
Hosts unchanged for Durban clash in pursuit of series win
South Africa had already named their side on Wednesday and confirmed unchanged matchday 23 for Saturday’s second Test.
Rassie Erasmus’ starting XV – captained by flanker Siya Kolisi – is the most experienced in Springboks history with 990 caps combined, three more than the total won by the team which began last year’s 12-11 Rugby World Cup final win over New Zealand.
“Last weeks game was a proper test match,” South Africa centre Damian de Allende said. “It was good to be part of the match, and we know how tough they are. We have no doubt theyll come at us even harder this week.
“They’ll definitely come out firing, and I think they may try a few new things and possibly play a more expansive game. But we really want to win this one and build good momentum.”
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Ox Nche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Kwagga Smith.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
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