Ireland and South Africa have a long a historied rivalry. Tensions often flare and we expect this Saturday to be no different in what is sure to be a fiesty affair in a close physical game. Here are four historical examples of when tempers ran high in previous Ireland v South Africa games, including the battle of Pretoria back in June 1998. Brian O'Driscoll and the "Golden Generation" hadn't come through yet, and Ireland didn't enjoy the same success that we would later become accustomed to. Games often became physical, and in the early advent of professionalism, the Irish discipline wasn't as good as others who embraced professionalism.
1998 was a tough year in Irish-Springbok relations and another game on that tour was just as fiesty:
As we know, things for Ireland got a lot better for Ireland in the next years, but tensions between the two countries remained. In the Lions tour of 2009, Schalk Burger did nothing to endear himself to the watching Irish public after his fingers found an unacceptable home in the first minute of the 2nd test.
The last time the South Africans visited Dublin, Ireland were in control of the game in the first half. After 30 minutes, we were 12-3 up and the South Africans attempted to up the physicality to unnerve the Irish team. It seemed to work, as Ireland didn't score any points after that in a 16-12 loss.
