Ireland make five changes for second Test against South Africa
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to his side for the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg
©Press Association
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to their starting XV for the second Test against South Africa which kicks-off in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Pretoria born Quinn Roux is set to make his debut for Ireland and he will be joined by Tadhg Furlong, Rhys Ruddock, Stuart Olding and Craig Gilroy as Ireland are targeting a historic series victory over the Springboks.
Iain Henderson will be moving to the blindside in the absence of CJ Stander and Ruddock will begin as openside flanker.
Olding will form the centre partnering Robbie Henshaw with Gilroy coming into the wing while Keith Earls, Luke Marshall, Sean Cronin, Ultan Dillane, and Jordi Murphy have all been rested.
Despite ringing a number of changes, Schmidt is confident of the team's ability to complete the series victory in Johannesburg.
The Irish coach also believes his counterpart Allister Coetzee will need some time to settle into his new role with the Springboks and wants his team to capitalise on it.
"That's probably an insult to the players that have come in to be honest," he said when asked by a local journalist if his team selection indicated he was holding out for a decider in Port Elizabeth.
"The players who have come in, I'm really hoping that they will pleasantly surprise just as the players who were probably undervalued a little bit last week.
"They certainly showed their mettle and it's a huge challenge to those players who have come in to try to match what the players put into the game last week.
"We have no doubt that South Africa would have benefited from that hit-out.
"It is very difficult for someone like Allister (Coetzee) to come in and implement his strategy in the space of maybe half a dozen training sessions and so each time they play together, you know if we were waiting for Port Elizabeth, they're likely to be better again.
"So, I think it's important that we don't wait, that we try to grasp the moment that we can and that moment is this weekend's game at Ellis Park."
