Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
John Jones

What time is Ireland v South Africa kick-off today and what TV channel is it on?

After a historic 2-1 series win over New Zealand this summer, Ireland have their eyes set on another big win as they take on reigning world champions South Africa in Dublin.

Andy Farrell's side currently top the world rankings but the Springboks will be looking to claim the bragging rights ahead of their meeting in Pool B at next year's World Cup in France.

It will be a special day for Ireland regardless of the result, with scrum-half Conor Murray winning his 100th cap while veteran Johnny Sexton becomes his country's fifth most-capped player at the age of 37. The pair are two of the five host players who started the last game between these two sides in 2017, which ended 38-3 to Ireland in a convincing display.

Here's everything you need to know about the game:

What time is Ireland v South Africa kick-off?

Ireland v South Africa kicks off at 5.30pm on Saturday, November 5, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

What TV channel is Ireland v South Africa on? What about live streaming?

You will need to have an Amazon Prime Video subscription for this game, or a free trial. This will be the only live-viewing option.

Prime Video offer a 30-day free trial, which renews at £8.99 per month after the trial period ends, or you can cancel it before that. The service also provides a range of films, TV series, music and free one-day delivery. You can sign up here. Live streaming will be available online or via Amazon Prime Video's app.

What's the Ireland v South Africa team news?

Andy Farrell has named an exciting team for Ireland's first game against South Africa in five years. Connor Murray, Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw, Peter O'Mahony and Johnny Sexton all started in the two sides' last meeting and are named in the XV again, with Murray picking up his 100th international cap.

Sexton, who leads his side once again from fly-half, will make his 109th appearance for Ireland on Saturday, becoming the country’s fifth most-capped player of all time and pushing legendary second row and current forwards coach Paul O’Connell into sixth position.

Robert Baloucoune comes in to replace the injured James Lowe in what will be his third Test cap and the biggest game of his career to date, having missed the New Zealand tour through injury. Hugo Keenan also starts despite not featuring a minute for Leinster this season, while teammate Jamison Gibson-Park makes the bench.

Meanwhile, Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber, formerly the defence coach at Munster, has made three changes to the side which beat Argentina 38-21 in the final round of the Rugby Championship in September. Cheslin Kolbe returns to the fold for his first Test at full-back after breaking his jaw against Wales in July, while Kurt-Lee Arendse completes a lightning-quick back three alongside Makazole Mapimpi.

Damian Willemse, who won the United Rugby Championship with the Stormers last season, is also brought in to lead the back line. Siya Kolisi captains the team, with an experienced pack made up of a staggering 499 caps.

Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan; 14. Robert Baloucoune, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Mack Hansen; 10. Johnny Sexton, 9. Conor Murray; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong; 4. James Ryan, 5. Tadhg Beirne; 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.

Replacements: 16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Jamison Gibson Park, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. Stuart McCloskey.

South Africa: 15. Cheslin Kolbe; 14. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Damian De Allende, 11. Makazole Mapimpi; 10. Damian Willemse, 9. Jaden Hendrikse; 1. Steven Kitshoff, 2. Malcolm Marx, 3. Frans Malherbe, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 5. Lood De Jager, 6. Siya Kolisi, 7. Pieter-Steph Du Toit, 8. Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: 16. Bongi Mbonambi, 17. Ox Nche, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Franco Mostert, 20. Deon Fourie, 21. Kwagga Smith, 22. Faf De Klerk, 23. Willie Le Roux.

Who is Ireland v South Africa referee?

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (IRFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)

Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

TMO: Stuart Terheege (RFU)

What have the coaches said?

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell: “You have to be aware of what they are trying to achieve. We know they want to use their defence as an attacking weapon. We know that they are very, very good at getting out of their own half and they manage the middle third well. And 100 per cent a point of difference for them is the maul. So, territory, possession and discipline all come together to a perfect place that they keep on consistently getting to, to put you at the right end of the field to convert points. They’re generally very good at that, plus they’ve very good on the counter-attack and their high-ball stuff is very good. If we just focus on them, we’re not pushing forward in the manner that we want to do as well.

"We know that our attack is going to be under pressure against them. But we’re excited to see where that is under pressure. We know at set-piece we’re going to be tested but we want to be tested.

"It’s like I was saying before the third Test in New Zealand; we want South Africa to be at their best, we want ourselves to be too. We constantly want to test ourselves, see where we’re constantly at. We hope that they come and they’re as strong as they possibly can be and put out a great performance as they can. That’s how we get to find out about ourselves.”

South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber: "We selected a team we believe contains the best combinations to counter the threats posed by Ireland. Damian has done well for us at out-half, and he is continuing to grow as a player in that role, while we think Cheslin has the potential to add a new dimension to our game at full-back. He was sidelined for a while after breaking his jaw against Wales, but he has played four 80-minute matches for Toulon since returning to play, and we are confident that he will step up to the challenge."

“Ireland are the top ranked team in the world currently and they’ve shown in the past that they can be a force to reckoned with in Dublin. We last faced them on their home patch in 2017 and they beat us 38-3 in that match, and they also beat us here 29-15 in 2014 and they will draw confidence from that. Similarly to us, they will also view this as a vital clash with an eye on next year’s Rugby World Cup in France where we will cross paths in the pool stages.

“Obviously we are a long way out from the World Cup, but we have a limited number of matches left before the competition and the preparation doesn’t get better than playing a side we will face in the World Cup and the number one side in the world. This match is important for us for many reasons, one of which is to test our player combinations with the World Cup less than a year away.”

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.