THE FUSE

Quilter Nations Series - Ireland v South Africa

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

Coverage: Listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Ulster; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

For all that South Africa have achieved as the dominant international team of their era, there remains a box unchecked by Rassie Erasmus' side.

The number one ranked team in the world have been hoovering up silverware in recent years, winning consecutive editions of both the World Cup and Rugby Championship.

Aside from lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in Yokohama and Paris, the much-travelled Springboks have won Test matches all over the world.

While inflicting a record defeat on New Zealand in Wellington this summer naturally garnered the most attention, across the past two autumns their record in the northern hemisphere reads played six, won six, with away victories against all but one of the Six Nations teams.

Ireland, who host South Africa at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, are the lone exception.

Of the XV that will take the field in Dublin on Saturday, only Eben Etzebeth - South Africa's most-capped player - was involved when they last won a Test in the city back in 2012.

And after arriving in Ireland for the fourth of his side's five autumn Tests, the imposing lock noted that this was the fixture that jumped out in a packed schedule.

"When we received the calendar at the beginning of the year, this fixture was definitely one that stood out, so we're excited," he said.

"It's going to be a good match. We haven't won here in a while, so it's a nice opportunity for us."

If South Africa's 38-3 defeat by Ireland in 2017 can be viewed as the nadir that preceded the hiring of Erasmus and the Springboks' dramatic turnaround, their struggles against Saturday's opponents have endured.

Starting with that game eight years ago, Ireland have won four of the past five meetings - three in Dublin, one in Durban and a World Cup pool-stage match at the Stade de France in 2023.

Ireland's results in the fixture, set against South Africa's lifting of the game's biggest prizes, have led many to speculate that there is a growing enmity between the two.

Ulster's South Africa-born hooker Rob Herring, who has won 43 caps for Ireland, said on the Ireland Rugby Social podcast this week that there is an impression back home of an "arrogance" to the Ireland side.

"There's obviously a bit of a rivalry there, and the media are building it up quite a bit," said the 35-year-old, who missed out on squad selection this month.

"A lot of the South African fans, a lot my mates, would say that the Irish are arrogant. That's not the players, that's the media doing their thing.

"The games have been so close, that's why the rivalry is there."

Thomas du Toit, the South Africa and Bath prop who spent a short spell with Munster in the 2016-17 season, was another to dismiss as a media construct the notion of a grudge match that stands above any other.

"I think the media and maybe the newspapers would like to throw it that way, but we don't see it that way," he said.

"I think what we've done well in the last couple of months, we've really taken every match and put it into its individual box and not think about the past too much.

"We are definitely putting a massive emphasis on this week, like we've done for every other week that we've been part of."

'There's not a lot to pick between the sides'

Regardless of the motivation, this feels like a huge game for both.

If not quite defining for South Africa's year, with Wales still to come next week, signing off with another November clean sweep after Rugby Championship success would be an ominous sign for those hoping to wrest the World Cup from their control as Australia 2027 starts to come into focus.

Ending the wait for a win in Dublin would certainly contribute to a "great season" in the eyes of Erasmus.

"We never, I thought, played always brilliant rugby, there are times when we played horrible rugby," reflected the head coach.

"So it would be great if we go into this match and we play really, really well [and] to our standards.

"I guess the last five results, there's not a lot to pick between the two teams. So, yes, you would love to win this game. We would love to say, 'yeah, we had a great season, we beat Ireland in Dublin' which we haven't done since I've been involved."

For the hosts, the need for victory is arguably more acute. After losing their Six Nations crown to France in the spring and a low-key summer tour without their large British and Irish Lions contingent, the autumn has so far been uneven.

Deservedly beaten by New Zealand in Chicago before an unconvincing win over Japan back in Dublin, their best performance to date came against an admittedly tiring Australia last week.

Now ranked fourth in the world - below England - defeat would leave them with three wins and six losses from their past nine games against the other teams in the top five and consolidate fears that an ageing squad have regressed considerably from their 2023 peak.

Hooker Dan Sheehan described the side's final game of the year as a "great measure" of Ireland's current state, while skipper Caelan Doris added that the perception of the autumn could be said to "hinge" on Saturday's performance.

Farrell is rarely one to engage in black and white interpretations of performances and results, but even he called the game a "litmus test" for the current level of his team.

"We'll learn, but we're trying to prove to ourselves the whole time that we're taking steps forward and this will be the litmus test for where we are," the head coach said.

"Certainly, that's going to concentrate the mind in the next couple of months leading up to the Six Nations."

For better or worse, Saturday's result seems sure to be one that will linger for some time to come.