Ireland v South Africa: The Springboks are ‘the talk of the rugby world’ – Robbie Henshaw

Irish midfielder Robbie Henshaw believes the Autumn Nations Championship final against world champions South Africa will be a “proper test” in terms of assessing where the team stands.

Ireland suffered a frustrating loss to New Zealand before a sub-par win over Japan, but bounced back last weekend with a record 46-19 win over Australia, with Henshaw scoring one of his six tries.

After winning the Rugby Championship, South Africa advances to three out of three matches in November in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Springboks will be looking to make a clean sweep in Dublin after victories over Japan at Wembley, France and Italy.

Ireland famously stunned South Africa in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup, with the two sides drawing up a summer series in 2024.

Hinshaw will be hoping the Irish can bolster their display against the Wallabies with another big performance at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (17:40 GMT).

“I think they are the talk of the rugby world at the moment in terms of the depth of strength they have and the individual talent,” he said.

“They get the results… Teams seem to get the results and then they find a way to come back.

“It’s a good test for us to see where we are now. We’ve competed with them and, since the summer of last year, each of them has had one win in that series, so I think they’ll look at that as well.

“It’s very exciting because they’re a proud nation as well, and you know, when we play against them here in Dublin, it’s always exciting.”

The 32-year-old believes there is still more to offer from Ireland as they look to end 2025 on a high.

“I guess [against Australia] “We conceded quite easily in the first half in those second 20 minutes when they got the ball,” Henshaw added.

“So, with what’s coming up, it’s more about the physicality offensively and the big guys running through our channels.

“I think we just need to match them up front and up front and that’s something we have to look at, our physicality around the flanks and stopping teams’ momentum.”