Despite the fact that anything other than a South African victory this afternoon would be a major shock, everybody even remotely interested in rugby, is still looking forward to the game with great excitement. This is partly due to the manner in which the Irish players and management have openly admitted their appetite for this confrontation to return some of the hospitality which they received from South Africans during their tour there last summer.

The performance of the Welsh side against the Springboks (whom they might have defeated with a little more composure in the last five minutes) has also confirmed that the visitors are beatable. I believe, however, that they would have been more vulnerable in their first international than they will be in this, their third.

It will be interesting to see how the South Africans react to the physical approach of the Irish in the early part of today's match. The traditional South African reaction would be to meet fire with fire but I have a suspicion that coach Nick Mallet will decide to move the ball wide or kick behind the defence to avoid giving the Irish forwards a target. If he does adopt this tactic it is imperative that we do not allow their backs space to move. The Romanians showed that our defence was far from solid when they moved the ball wide. The difficulty in defending against the South Africans is that their back row, and particularly their scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen (who is undoubtedly the best in the world) demand so much attention from the opposing back row and half backs, that they inevitably concede space for the outside opposition players. The South Africans are so adept at running onto the ball at pace that, if their ball carrier is not stopped by the first tackle, it is unlikely that our cover defence will have sufficient speed to catch them.

I know that this all sounds very ominous but the reality is that Ireland must upset the South African supply of ball, particularly in the lineouts, to have any genuine chance of competing in this game. It is very difficult in the modern game to upset the opposition lineouts but we have sufficient tall men who, with proper organisation, should be able to do it. In the Welsh game it was the inability of the Welsh to control their own ball and their failure to compete on the South African throw that ultimately led to their downfall. We must, and I am sure we will, control our own possession but, more importantly, we must disrupt the South African possession. The confrontation between the front rows and in particular the two hookers should be warm to say the least. There is certainly no love lost between James Dalton and Keith Wood and the Irishman has a point to prove after recent events.

While the loss of Paul Wallace is a blow, it is mitigated to a large extent by the fact that Peter Clohessy is now playing in his preferred position at tight head. Clohessy is having and outstanding season and, of all the players I have seen to date, he is the one who has benefited the most from the full-time approach.

The Irish second row should certainly hold their own and, while I have every confidence in the courage of our back row, they do not have the football ability of their counterparts. They must, therefore, set out to disrupt Gary Teichmann and his colleagues before they get into their stride.

Unfortunately our half-backs have been badly hampered by injury this season. Hopefully Conor McGuinness can re-find his international form of last season but he is certainly up against the very best today. Eric Elwood has been associated with all great Irish victories in recent years and the side really needs him to play well in order to have a reasonable chance. He came in for a lot of criticism after the matches against Georgia and Romania. Neither game really suited Eric's style and I have no doubt that Warren Gatland will be adapting a conservative approach today in the knowledge that an expansive game against the Springboks would be suicidal.

I have no doubt, either, that we will be trying to use Jonathan Bell and Kevin Maggs in the centre to carry the ball forward and it will hardly be released unless we are sure that we have an overlap. I think the Irish would be wise to be cautious against the South Africans in terms of moving the ball too freely because the Springboks have developed their defence to such an extent now that they are happy to absorb pressure for a considerable period of time and then counter attack when the opposition makes a mistake. They have so many quick men that they do this to great effect. I realise that I may sound a bit negative about our prospects, but, realistically, nothing less than the performance of a lifetime will be required.

The match will, however, be a guide as to where we stand in comparison to the best in the world and also will be a fair indicator as to how we compare with the Welsh and Scottish sides after recent games.

I am sure that the Irish would not be disappointed if the weather conditions were to deteriorate somewhat as a wet ball will certainly not be to the visitors' liking.

(In an interview with Sean Kilfeather)