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Boks not focussing on Stander

Stander, who left the Bulls for Munster in 2012, has developed into one of Europe's top loose forwards in the last three years and earned his first Test cap for the Irish in this year's Six Nations championship.

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He also picked up the the IRUPA Players' Player of the Year award for his performances over the last 10 months.

Boks not focussing on Stander"We are not going to focus on any specific individual as a threat," said Strauss

"Personally I think he [Stander] is a great rugby player – we respect him as a rugby player. I don't think he has got any info on us as a a team, but he knows the culture and he can maybe help them with that and help them with their tour. 

"I don't think there is too much info that he can leak."

Strauss said he is expecting a stern test up front against the Irish and believes they will have to put in some extra work in training this week to counter their strengths.

"They are very good at set pieces and driving maul. It's always important to get those right – we are going to have to step up and face their set piece, but also going to have to do well on our own.

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"They are also very good at the breakdowns, they can put you under pressure there and that is an area where we are going to have to be very effective," Strauss added.

Ireland have lost a number of key players to injury for the series, however, Strauss believes they were still be very tough to beat.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt lost the services of Jonathan Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald and Dave and Rob Kearney all to injury. They were already without Sean O'Brien, Cian Healy and Tommy Bowe for the three-Test series.

"It is still international game. When you get the opportunity to play for your country you lift your game.

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"They are a very proud nation as well. We know that the guys that will come in will make that step up. We still don't know their team yet, but every single guy who plays for his country plays with pride, especially the Irish. 

"It's still going to be a massive Test for us," said Strauss.

By Warren Fortune

@FortuneWarren

@rugby365com

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