VIDEO: 'Ireland will be tired in South Africa'
SPOTLIGHT: Ireland legend Gordon D’Arcy believes fatigue might be a factor when Ireland head to South Africa later this year.
In July, the world’s top two teams will face each other in a two-Test series. The first Test will take place in Pretoria (July 6) before the second showdown in Durban (July 13) a week later.
It will also be the first meeting between the two teams since Ireland’s 13-8 victory in the pool stages at last year’s World Cup in France.
Despite that result, the Springboks eventually went on to win the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ireland bounced back to win the Six Nations trophy earlier this year.
There has been a lot of debate when it comes to the ‘best team in the world’ tag, and D’arcy had his own say on the matter.
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“You have the world champions on merit. South Africa did exactly what they needed to do to win the World Cup,” D’Arcy told media during the United Rugby Championship round table this week.
“What I loved about the South African win was that they didn’t let a group match derail them and I just thought the resilience they showed to come back was fantastic.
“The season started to tell a little bit for Ireland towards the end of that Six Nations.
“‘Tired’ is probably the wrong word but there are a lot of the same players playing in a lot of the same matches. With a couple of injuries and another round or two in the Six Nations, they might not have had the legs to keep going.
“I think Ireland will be tired coming down to South Africa. That said, I think there will be a couple of bodies coming back in and a couple of new faces added to that squad and we have two brilliant coaching tickets.”
D’Arcy added: “It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.
“It is the pick of the [July] Tests for me and I just hope Ireland will give a good account of themselves.
“We know how much travel takes out of teams on the road, being away from home after a long season, and you guys [South Africa] are getting started, but it certainly won’t disappoint.”
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