The Irish will want to open their new home with a win over an injury-hit Springbok side, whose end-of-year tour looks destined for failure before it's even kicked off. South Africa arrive in the Emerald Isle with just one win in six games, a coach under instruction to improve results and one of the most untried centre pairing in recent Springbok memory. On top of that, they are missing 13 key players, including captain John Smit, who are all injured.
Head To Head : Ireland vs South Africa
Date: Saturday, 6 November
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
To make matters worse, Ireland have had the wood on the men in green and gold in the last decade - South Africa's last win over their northern hemisphere counterparts coming six years ago (2004) in Cape Town, and you have to go back to 2000 for the last Bok win in Guinness country.
South Africa's five-match trip is crucial for coach Peter de Villiers to restore his employers' faith in him after a disastrous Tri-Nations title defence, where South Africa conceded 22 tries in one of their worst campaigns in the tournament's 15-year history.
The poor results have left a dark cloud hovering over De Villiers with most pundits adamant the coach must go if he does not deliver at least two Test victories this month.
And whilst De Villiers' quest to make amends has been hampered by a long casualty list, the truth of the matter is that South Africa failed to produce the goods when they were at full-strength which will be a concern for Bok fans.
However, this Grand Slam tour posts more than just the obvious challenge of De Villiers' team beating all four home nations in one go. Torn between achieving a Grand Slam for the first time since 1961 and taking measures to ensure SA have the best chance of defending their crown at next year's World Cup, the Bok coach must now use these four games as a fact-finding mission to get his cards in order for New Zealand 2011.
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