Boks bolster their pack: Mbonambi and Mchunu to Dublin vs Ireland

South Africa Bolsters its Front Line to Face Ireland

The South Africa rugby team has reinforced its forward pack ahead of the crucial match against Ireland in Dublin this weekend. The team has called up hooker Bongi Mbonambi and prop Ntuthuko Mchunu. The “Boks” were reduced to 14 players for the second consecutive time last Saturday, when Franco Mostert was red-carded against Italy. The reason was not wrapping his arms in a tackle and supposedly making contact with the head. Faced with this situation, the “Boks” coaching staff was forced to make several early changes to balance the scrum. In addition, with the absence of Lood de Jager, also due to a red card against France, the incorporation of new players became necessary.

This is a longer tour than usual, and we have two big matches ahead against Ireland and Wales, which motivated the decision to call up Bongi and Ntuthuko.

Rassie Erasmus, Boks head coach

Erasmus added that both players have proven their worth on the international stage, so they are excited to have them in the group. Several players will not be eligible for the final test of the tour against Wales, as the match falls outside the international window. Therefore, it makes sense to call up the players now to rejoin the team during training this week, while also increasing the team’s depth for the upcoming challenge against Ireland. South Africa has won the three tests it has played on this tour of the United Kingdom and Europe so far and is eager to face Ireland, who are coming off a resounding victory against Australia. Damian Willemse, named player of the match against Italy, commented on the challenge that Ireland represents: “This group of players has not yet won at the Aviva Stadium, and that is definitely a goal for us. We want to deliver a solid performance, but it will be a great match.” Willemse added: “We are really looking forward to playing in Dublin. We are going to need everything: every member of the team and the coach to get the result we want in Ireland. They are a world-class team and we know what they are capable of, especially in Dublin. They are a very strong team with a good coaching staff, so they will be ready and prepared to devise plans for us. We will return to the drawing board on Monday and make sure we refine our plans to be ready for the challenge.” The match will start at 17:40 UK time, 19:40 South African time.