Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and Irish-born assistant coach Felix Jones spoke highly of Ireland on Friday as the teams prepare to battle it out at the Aviva Stadium, with the Bok skipper saying they had to be at their best and use all their opportunities if they want to walk away with the result in Dublin on Saturday.
Ireland have won two of their last three matches between the teams, dating back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, while South Africa last won a match in Dublin in 2012, and both Kolisi and Jones said it would take a massive effort for the Boks to register their fourth victory in a row on their November tour this weekend.
The match kicks off at 7:40pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
“They’re a very good team, and that’s the reason we’ve struggled to win here for so many years,” said Kolisi.
“It will all be about taking our opportunities this weekend because we’ve lost with small margins against them at times as a result of that, and we’ve learned a lot from those previous games. This is a very important match, so we must be at our best.”
“This is a very important match, so we must be at our best” - more here: https://t.co/2LP4wB9ydB 👊#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/h32uET6ACm
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 21, 2025
Jones, who played test rugby for the country of his birth before joining the Springbok coaching staff in 2019, shared Kolisi’s sentiments and said a large part of the hosts’ success over the years was due to their effective structures.
“This team specifically are extremely well coached and they have been for a long time,” said Jones.
“And then of course, you have players who have accelerated that success with their hard work, and you can see it in their style of play, their skillset, and the depth of the players coming through.”
SPECIAL MILESTONE FOR RG
When quizzed about how it felt to be Irish going into this massive test, Jones said: “It’s a little different for us (himself, Jerry Flannery, and Paddy Sullivan, who are all on the management team), but it doesn’t impact on anything. We’re treating this match as we would any other test for the Boks.”
Elaborating on what has made Ireland such a successful rugby nation, Jones said: “They’ve been in and around the top three in the world for such a long time now, and it probably goes back to the structures they’ve created over the last few decades.
“Their school, club, and academy system all feed smoothly into their national system, and from a high level, they’ve nurtured that and capitalised on ensuring that their feeder structure is in a good place.”
Springbok lock RG Snyman will achieve the significant milestone of earning 50 test caps if he takes the field from the replacements bench, and Kolisi was full of praise for his teammate for this fine achievement.
“I’m very happy for him,” said Kolisi. “With everything he’s been through, he could have given up at any time, and I’d like to credit the unions that have backed him and stuck with him through all his injuries.
“He’s always supported us, even when he was out, and since he’s been back, you can see what it means to him to be here. So I’m really grateful and happy that he’s achieving this milestone. He missed out on two years with the team, but he kept fighting.
“He’s one of the most talented guys in the group, and hopefully we can make it special for him.”
FIGHT AGAINST GBV CLOSE TO KOLISI'S HEART
With South African President Cyril Ramaphosa officially declaring Gender Based Violence and Femicide as a national crisis, Kolisi spoke passionately on the important subject.
“That’s big news, and it’s great that it’s finally being acknowledged,” the Bok captain said.
“Acknowledging, however, is one thing. There has to be a plan behind it, and we all have a part to play in it. There are many organisations in SA that are doing work in this space, and from the work with my foundation and the partners we have, there’s still so much to be done.
“I’ve seen videos of people walking in support of this, and personally, I grew up in a community where it’s been a big problem. You see it every day to the point where it has become normal.
“I’ve seen it in my own personal life too, and back then, there was nothing I could do about it. But now I have a platform and the resources to do things to make a difference.”