'The Springboks have to look at Ireland as the benchmark'

Though Ireland’s travails at World Cups are well documented, Andy Farrell’s side have been backed to “get it right” sooner or later by journalist Craig Ray, who expects the 2027 tournament to be a good one for the men in green.

While South Africa’s haul of four World Cups will be the envy of an Ireland team that have never reached a semi-final, and any other team for that matter, the reigning Six Nations champions have set the standard between World Cups that the Springboks should try and emulate, according to Ray.

Joining the Off the Ball podcast recently, the South African said that Ireland are the “benchmark” for consistency.

Though it is hard to argue with back-to-back World Cups, any criticism that is thrown the Springboks’ way is that they are not dominant between tournaments in the way the All Blacks were last decade as they achieved the same feat of two titles on the bounce.

So while the Boks will be seeking greater consistency between World Cups, Ireland will be striving to peak in time for next the World Cup, and Ray believes both sides are close to achieving their goals.

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“Ireland have got this nearly 85 per cent winning percentage over the last five years and that’s kind of what you want to do,” he said.

“You want to be that side that wins 80, 85 per cent of their Test matches between World Cups and that’s the next challenge I think.

“I think Ireland will get it right sooner or later, it’s inevitable. They’re too good not to get it right at some point. I imagine the next World Cup will be a good one for Ireland. Andy Farrell’s a great coach. We saw what they did to the Springboks last month, they really did a job on them in that second Test, especially in the first half.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for Ireland down here as a team. I know the banter around the World Cup is real, but the reality is the Springboks have to look at Ireland as the benchmark for consistency. They’re getting there now. They lost the one game this year, but they’re looking pretty strong. They’ve lost two Tests in the last 16, so they’re in a decent space in terms of winning percentage and they’ve got a lot of exciting players to come.”