This weekend's clash between Ireland and South Africa was always going to garner a huge amount of interest, with two of the best sides on the planet facing off in the biggest stage in the sport at the Rugby World Cup.
The Spingboks are the defending champions, and while Ireland's record in the tournament is far less impressive, there are hopes that they can finally take the next step under Andy Farrell.
Of course, the presence of another character in the South African coaching box was always going to add a bit of extra intrigue to the fixture.
Rassie Erasmus is one of the most entertaining, and controversial, figures in top level rugby at the moment. He has done a sensational job since being appointed as the nation's director of rugby in 2017, going on to coach the side to the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan in 2019.
Since then, he has rubbed quite a few people up the wrong way with his approach, most notably during the Lions tour to South Africa in 2021.
With Erasmus very familiar with Irish rugby due to his time at Munster, people were keen to see what comments he would make about the opposition ahead of Saturday's game.
Rassie Erasmus puts pressure on Ireland ahead of Rugby World Cup clash
Rassie Erasmus has never been afraid to use mind games to his advantage ahead of a big game, with this clash with Ireland no different.
Speaking to RTÉ ahead of the match, he had a cheeky response when asked about Ireland's poor Rugby World Cup record, seemingly suggesting that many people see South Africa as possible underdogs.
I was thinking about that when I read a few things on social media.
A few of my friends said that Ireland is our bogey team, but the World Cup is Ireland’s bogey competition.
But then if you think about history, when we lost our pool match against New Zealand (in 2019), then we won the World Cup. It had never been done before.
The New Zealanders lost their first pool game ever this year and I think they're strong contenders this year.
A team with other coaches, other captains, other game plans, other supporters, the transformation of the team in terms of how they play, how they want to attack.
I really think history, it might be nice to make it a sensational thing, but the belief from within the Irish team and from the South African team - at the end of the day, it's what those 33 players and management believe
I guess it spices it up but it doesn’t make a difference, the history, for the teams...
We are playing the number one in the world. You don't get there if you don't perform well. They are a very well-coached side, their overall game to their attack and defence. They have got some very experienced players which forms part of their make-up.
Rassie Erasmus is clearly trying to shift some of the focus towards Ireland ahead of this fixture, with many people currently viewing his South Africa team to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
While this pool game will not decide who wins the competition, it will be interesting to see how two of the favourites for the tournament stack up this weekend.
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