South Africa-born Ireland hooker Rob Herring insists there will be no split loyalties among his family and friends when his side face the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup in Paris.
Andy Farrell's men are seeking to secure a quarter-final spot with victory over the defending champions on Saturday evening following bonus-point wins over Romania and Tonga.
Herring’s mother and two of his three sisters have travelled from Cape Town for the tournament, while a number of his friends will be at Stade de France for the standout fixture in Pool B (8pm Irish time).
The 33-year-old Ulster player has twice before lined up against his native country – Dublin victories in 2017 and last November – but will do so on the biggest stage for the first time.
And he is in no doubt about where his relatives’ allegiances lie.
"They’re all supporting Ireland," Herring said.
"All of my friends that are coming over and my family, they’re all in Irish jerseys so there will be no divided support. They will be fully behind us.
"It will be great. I’ve played against them a few times now and it’s always a good battle.
"I just want to be a part of the squad, contribute any way I can. It will be a good atmosphere, we’ll have our Irish fans there in full force.
"Every week we think we need to step things up and it’s going to be like that going into the long run of the competition. We’ll keep getting better and it will be another big challenge for us."
Herring, who qualified for Ireland through a grandfather from Belfast, missed out on selection for the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.
He is already making up for lost time, having claimed tries in the 82-8 opening-weekend win over Romania and Saturday's 59-16 success over Tonga.
"I keep saying to myself, I’ve got to enjoy these moments," he said.
"I’ve missed out before and I’ve worked so hard to be here over the last four years so I’m going to put in big performances when I get the opportunity and other than that I’m ready to take it all in and enjoy it.
"This group of boys, we love playing for each other so it’s a great team to be a part of and hopefully we’re going to go into the deep end of the comp."
Meanwhile, Ireland are waiting on medical reports on Finlay Bealham as the tighthead prop goes through the return to play protocols.
The Connacht forward came on as a replacement for Tadhg Furlong at half-time on Saturday but was removed for a head injury assessment 10 minutes into the second half.
Speaking to media on Sunday morning, attack coach Mike Catt said: "We haven't seen the medics yet this morning, the players are getting done now. I’ll know more about it later on today."
On the fitness of back row Jack Conan, who hasn’t played since 5 August, and hooker Dan Sheehan, out of action since 19 August, the former England centre said: "Jack is a fantastic footballer and a good athlete as well, whether he’s missed a little bit or not is irrelevant for him.
"I think it’s got a lot in the tank in terms of his fitness and ability and when he comes back into it, I think it will be pretty seamless too.
"Dan’s trained with us the past couple of days. He’s looking good.
"[Monday’s] going to be very, very light anyway, so he’ll be able to do all the walk-throughs. We’re pretty confident that he’s available for selection come Saturday."
Watch live coverage of Ireland v South Africa (Saturday, 8pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1, and follow live updates on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app.
