The post-game Ireland arrogance that left Eben Etzebeth in shock

Eben Etzebeth has lit the fuse for the upcoming Springboks versus Ireland Test series by accusing Andy Farrell's squad of arrogance following last September’s most recent clash between the two countries.

South Africa were beaten 8-13 by the Irish in Paris but the defending champions from 2019 went on to retain their crown by defeating the All Blacks in the 2023 final five weeks after their Pool B loss.

The Springboks are now set to host Ireland in matches in Pretoria and Durban and with less than 10 weeks to go before the July 6 opener at Loftus Versfeld, Etzebeth has upped the ante by describing the Irish as arrogant in their post-match reaction at Stade de France seven months.

Etzebeth was interviewed post-game in Paris by RugbyPass TV (click here to watch) and he predicted the Springboks would settle the score with Ireland in the final... if the Irish made it through.

The 32-year-old has now explained what he was alluding to when making that comment, revealing that about half of the Irish matchday 23 that he shook hands with post-game in Paris said ‘See you in the final’ even though they knew they had to play the All Blacks in the quarter-final.

The Springboks lock felt this attitude towards New Zealand to be very dismissive, a story he has now explained during an appearance on the latest episode of The Rugby Pod. “I remember what I said to you,” said Etzebeth to Jim Hamilton, the Rugby Pod host who had interviewed him post-game at Stade de France for RugbyPass TV.

“When I said that after the game: the thing was obviously you shake the guy’s hands and probably 12 out of the 23 when I shook the hands told me, ‘See you guys in the final’.

"Because the way the logs worked out we were going to play France and they were going to play New Zealand and my immediate thought was, ‘Are these guys seriously not even thinking about the All Blacks in the World Cup quarter-final playing against them?’

“So that remark they made, ‘See you guys in the final’, I was just like these guys are making a big mistake to look past probably one of the most dominant teams, or probably the most dominant team in the last 20 to 30 years of Test rugby.

“I was just like, ‘Surely they can’t!’ I mean we would never say that because we knew we had the host nation and we knew we had to pitch up to beat France in their backyard. Yeah, it just felt like they were just so, so confident saying things like that, ‘See you in the final’ when you knew you had got the mighty All Blacks coming in a World Cup quarter-final.

“It’s good to be confident but you can never be arrogant in this game because that’s the thing about rugby, you can have the best season and you can have one slip-up, or one missed tackle, and a guy puts you on your arse. That is the beauty of this game – you are never on top forever.”

Whereas Ireland lost 24-28 to the All Blacks in their quarter-final, South Africa pipped France 29-28 the following night in Paris and they went on to retain the trophy with further knockout stage one-point wins over England and then New Zealand.

The Springboks will now open their 2024 schedule with a Qatar Airways Cup clash versus Wales in London, but Etzebeth suggested it’s the series against Ireland that has captured the imagination of all rugby fans.

“We want consistency between World Cups,” he said when asked what is next for South Africa. “We all know 2027 is the next big one but you do want to be competitive.

"We want to win one or two Rugby Championships within this phase. We have got Ireland coming up. Wales first at Twickenham but those Ireland Test matches, everyone except the Ireland and Springboks players are talking that one up. Everyone is talking about that game.”

• Click the arrow below to listen to Eben Etzebeth on this week's Rugby Pod

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