One of the most special parts of rugby is touring. It can sometimes get lost among the more formal structured tournaments like the World Cup, Six Nations and Champions Cup.
It is an opportunity to spend time in another country, a different environment and push players out of their comfort zones. The outcome usually weighs heavily in favour of the home nation. Winning a match can be testing enough on the road, and a series win is rare. Ireland have had series wins against New Zealand in 2022, Australia in 2018 and were within touching distance of one in South Africa in 2016.
Despite Ireland winning the opening Test match in Cape Town 20-26, a man down after CJ Stander received a red card after just 22 minutes, the Springboks regrouped to win games in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, denying Ireland a historic series win.
My first tour could have possibly been in 1998, when I was asked to join the Irish squad as a Leaving Cert student. But I had to wait until the summer of 2003, injuries and personality clashes an unfortunate mix at that point.
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I travelled then as one of the players hoping to make a reserve squad position for the World Cup a few months later. Ireland had one Test against Australia and were then travelling on to Tonga and Samoa in the following weeks with the majority of the frontline players returning home to prepare for the World Cup after a less than impressive outing against the Wallabies.
Even though I was 23, the prospect of touring was daunting as I was not an established player and trying hard to break into the squad. For large parts of my early career, I was part of wider groups and was always holding out hope, but realistically knowing that I was beholden to the form or injury status of established players.
That changed for me with an injury to Brian O’Driscoll in early 2003, and a coach – Gary Ella – that offered me a lifeline at outside centre. Prior to that I played fullback and wing.
It was a transformative move for me in so many ways. A team-mate and friend Liam Toland used to suggest that the more instinctive position with less time to think about things worked. Centre suited me! It wasn’t until I toured in 2004 to South Africa, after the positional switch, that I felt competent at that level, while still waiting to feel comfortable.
I had restarted my international career in the 13 jersey but on that tour to South Africa I began learning the intricacies of defending at 12. A very humbling defensive session for me came in the lead up to the Test, where Geordan Murphy and Kevin Maggs turned me inside and outside.
Thankfully, they were training errors and did exactly what they should have. They prepared me for the unexpected. While Ireland know the Springboks very well, with Rassie Erasmus in charge the unexpected may be part of this two-Test match series.
While there are many experienced tourists travelling in this Irish squad, there are potentially three new caps, but also a few significant gaps in the roster that Ireland haven’t had before.
I’ve previously written that the three most creative players Ireland have are scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park and wingers James Lowe and Mack Hansen. Ireland are travelling with just one of those three fit – Lowe.
This is going to put huge focus on the way Ireland play and the individual players that fill those shoes.
Just as I had to be ready for the unexpected, the Irish attack needs to remain unpredictable and to date that responsibility has been shouldered by the three above-mentioned players and more recently outhalf Jack Crowley.
The Springboks will likely focus in on Crowley as the chief playmaker and try to disrupt him as much as possible. In this type of match Crowley needs to be at his very best, staying above or removed from the physical battle, so that he can keep his pack on the front foot as much as possible and turn the high Springbok defence at the right time with his kick, pass, run options.
The danger for Ireland is that if the Springboks manage to contain Crowley, are there others comfortable taking up that responsibility?
This is a massive opportunity for those individuals hoping to step up. Players like Munster scrumhalf Craig Casey have been waiting in the wings for this opportunity to excel as well as show himself to be an effective foil for Crowley.
The reality of the tour is that there is very little on the line, despite what is being said on social and mainstream media. And much of that has been about Ireland unintentionally getting under the skin of the Springbok players and supporters. It appears that being crowned world champions isn’t enough for the Springboks, that they also want to be adored.
Several players from the strong squad Rassie selected have been vocal in their dislike of Ireland. Eben Etzebeth called Ireland “arrogant”, while Damien de Allande said they were “disrespected” in the media and Cheslin Kolbe said: “There’s been a lot of talk about Ireland deserving to win the World Cup, we’ll see in July”.
It is hard to know if they are desperate to win or desperate to not lose to Ireland. Despite what is being said in the build-up, what I do know is that this Irish squad is a different team under Farrell, composed in defeat during the World Cup and respectful as back-to-back champions in the Six Nations.
There is never an easy option in South Africa and this series will be no different but, then again, I don’t think Farrell would have it any other way.
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