The Springboks are braced for nothing less than a bruising battle when they face Ireland on Saturday at the Rugby World Cup in France.

The Pool B clash in Paris is one of the most eagerly anticipated games at the World Cup as it will be the number one team, Ireland, up against the defending champions, South Africa.

The winner of this game will most likely finish at the top of the pool and tackle the runner-up of Pool A in the quarter-finals.

Should the Springboks win this Test they will regain the number one ranking and thus end Ireland’s 14-month stay at the summit.

Ox Nche, Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit - Getty

The Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, who named a strong bench with a seven-one split, said that this is the game where teams want to measure themselves.

“They are the number-one team in world, they are a quality outfit. We don’t think there are a lot of weaknesses in their game and, as they’ve mentioned, this is probably one of the games you want to play in – the number one in the world playing the world champions.

“If you look at Ireland’s team and their consistency of performance, there has not been a lot of weakness over the past few months. We expect a proper test match of the calibre of the number one and two teams playing against each other.”

Saturday’s Test between the Springboks and Ireland at the iconic Stade de France kicks off at 21:00.

Meanwhile, the week’s action kicks off on Wednesday afternoon in what should be an absolutely fascinating game when the Azzurri of Italy go head-to-head with the Los Teros of Uruguay in Nice.

Italy is expected to claim five points in this Test, but last week against the hosts, France, the South American minnows proved to be more than a handful to deal with. Kick-off at Stade de Nice is at 17:45.

Namibia vs. All Blacks - Getty

On Thursday night, neighbours, Namibia, will face another tough challenge in Pool A when they go head-to-head with the French in Marseille.

The Welwitschias coach, Allister Coetzee, who was previously in charge of the Springboks and Western Province, picked a new-look team for the Test.

The Cheetahs hooker, Chucky van der Westhuizen, will start and he is also the vice-captain.

Coetzee said it’s important for all the players in the squad to be a part of the World Cup experience.

“It’s important to give every player coming to a World Cup an opportunity to play. Our whole mindset was building towards the last game and see what the players can offer and get to our best possible team for the last game.

“It’s a great experience for a lot of youngsters and players playing in their first World Cup.

“That is one of our objectives, to make sure we grow depth in our squad, especially against tier-one nations. We don’t have the opportunity to play against tier-one nations on a regular basis so it’s important for us.”

This game at the Stade Velodrome kicks off tomorrow night at 21:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport