The beef between South Africa and Ireland goes back a fair while at this stage, and it has not quietened since their epic meeting at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
Both sides entered the tournament among the favourites to go all the way and, in a mouthwatering twist, were drawn to face each other in the third game of the pool stages.
A tense contest in the Stade de France played out, with Ireland ultimately claiming a memorable 13-8 victory over the defending world champions. However, that was as good as things would get for Andy Farrell’s side.
23 September 2023; Mack Hansen of Ireland dives over to score his side’s first try during the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Ireland went on to suffer a heartbreaking defeat to New Zealand in the quarter-finals, while South Africa would end up going back-to-back, defeating the same opposition in the final to win their fourth World Cup.
The aftermath of the tournament has seen several barbs thrown from the South African side towards their Irish opponents – and Cheslin Kolbe has now added his name to that list.
READ HERE: Sam Prendergast Flashes Ridiculous Double Chip To Cap Leinster Rout Of Ulster
READ HERE: Crazy Stat Shows How Unlucky Adeleke Was Not To Win 400m Gold
South Africa v Ireland: Cheslin Kolbe throws down gauntlet ahead of July series
Since the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup, the war of words between South Africa and Ireland has been strangely one-sided, with most of the jabs being thrown from the Springboks side.
With some in the world of rugby such as Sam Warburton making lofty claims that Ireland could justifiably call themselves the best team in the world despite their World Cup disappointment, several ex-Springboks have bitten back – namely Joel Stransky, Robbie Fleck, and Bryan Habana.
However, the bad blood has not been limited to ex-Boks. Former Munster star Damien de Allende said last week that South Africa are especially motivated for this summer’s two-test series against Ireland due to what they perceived to be “disrespect” from the Irish media over the past few years.
Most notably, Eben Etzebeth has spoken on multiple occasions slating the alleged conduct of the Irish team both during and after the World Cup.
Now, back three star Cheslin Kolbe has added his voice to the chorus of complaints, saying to News24 in South Africa that the Springboks are out to shut down any claims that Ireland are the best team in the world.
There’s been a lot of hype and a lot of talk about it.
Obviously we badly wanted to beat them in the pool match at the World Cup but they had the better of us on the day.
So [there’s] a lot of excitement about Ireland in July but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got Wales at Twickenham and then the focus will shift onto Ireland.
There’s been a lot of talk about Ireland deserving to win the World Cup. We’ll see in July.
There has certainly been a lot of noise among the South Africa squad in the lead-up to next month’s series, with the talk somewhat quieter on the Irish side.
The first test takes place on July 6 in Pretoria, with the second and final test a week later in Durban.
SEE ALSO: Ferris Full Of Praise For Cormac Izuchukwu And Believes He Should Be On Ireland Radar
