Erin King insists Ireland won’t “shy away” from the physicality of South Africa when the sides meet in their first ever women’s Test in Cape Town on Saturday.
Scott Bemand’s side continue their WXV Global Series campaign with a two-Test series against the Springbok women at the Athlone Stadium, following on from their home games against USA and Japan last month.
The South Africans have been quite inconsistent in recent moths, with wins against Spain and Italy offset by a heavy defeat against Wales, while they were also beaten 52-20 by New Zealand in early September.
But King says Ireland are preparing for the best version of the Boks this weekend, which means an attritional battle in Cape Town.
“I think physicality is what will probably win it this weekend and something that we definitely don’t shy away from,” King said.
“We’re really going to embrace that physical battle that we have coming. And I don’t think we’ve ever played against a team quite like them.
“We’re really lucky to have this opportunity to get to play against them. They do some mad stuff in the lineout and in the mauls. And hopefully we can adapt and we can show what we’re good at as well.
“We’ve definitely been working on our lineout and our maul. So we’re really lucky to get that opportunity this weekend to show what we can do because we’re definitely capable of doing well against them in that physical battle.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we’re definitely excited for the challenge.”
Ireland also had a mixed start to their WXV, with a disappointing defeat to the USA followed by a seven-point win against Japan in Galway, while that was followed by a comfortable win against the Japanese earlier this month in a game that wasn’t part of the WXV series.
King captains a side that shows just two changes from that game, with Dorothy Wall and Stacey Flood returning to the starting team, with Neve Jones (above) making her 50th appearance at hooker.
Ireland’s skipper says they are determined to finish the international season with back-to-back wins on tour.
“We’ve definitely spoken about the history of getting to play in Cape Town and getting to play in South Africa, because rugby is everything for them, they eat and breathe rugby, and there’s so much history there,” King added.
“We’ve spoken about coming over, and not many teams have come to South Africa and won two Test games against them back to back, I don’t think any Irish team ever has, and with the history in that, we’d love to come over and win them two Test games and create a bit of history.
“We’re really looking forward to it, but I think it’s going to be a bit of a challenge.”
King celebrated her 23rd birthday yesterday, and will earn her 16th international cap this weekend.
The former Ireland Sevens international has had a meteoric rise since turning to the XVs game after the Paris Olympics two years ago, winning World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2024, before being named Ireland captain in January of this year.
Ireland come into the game off the back of two home wins against Japan
And she admits she has changed quite a lot as a player since turning her hand to XVs.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind in the last two years and I was really lucky when I came into the squad to come into such a great group of girls.
“So it didn’t really take long to feel like I belonged, and that’s down to the culture that the girls created.
“I think when I first started, I wasn’t the biggest fan – I think after my first maul session, I probably cried! I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is for me’. It’s come a long way since then.
“To be the captain of this team is still a bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment. It’s an absolute honour. And we’ve such a great group of girls and we’ve so many great girls coming through the systems. It’s a really exciting time for us.
“My own game, hopefully it’s coming along. I’m constantly working to be one of the best players in Ireland and one of the best players in the world,” she said.
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