Caelan Doris doesn't believe South Africa’s 7:1 bench split means Ireland have to adjust their game plan.
Yesterday, Jacques Nienaber revealed the Springboks' 23 to face Andy Farrell’s men in Paris on Saturday night, in a game which will go a long way to deciding the finishing order of World Cup Pool B.
Alongside the return of Eben Etzebeth from a shoulder injury, a bench of seven forwards and just one back, Conus Reinach, contains Munster locks RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn, who won five caps with Ireland back in 2019.
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"It doesn’t actually change too much," said Leinster number 8 Doris, speaking before the team was named.
"We talk of delivering an 80-minute performance, regardless of who we are playing and knowing that some teams target the last 20 minutes.
"We also speak about our bench coming off and not just fitting in but taking it up a level so that will be important this weekend.
"We back our fitness against most teams and back our smarts as well so we’re pretty confident in that area."
While the South African pack are made up of very large men, Doris, who was voted Ireland’s Player of the Year last season, said they bring more than just bulk to the game.
"It’s not just their size, it's the way the play," said the 25-year-old Mayo man.
"They are very direct off 9, they’ll have two or three players latched onto a carrier and try to drive them over a gain line. It’s the way they maul, it’s the ruck, the way they aggressively go after it.
"It’s partly their size and their physicality and partly their mindset and the way they play that comes with that."
Meanwhile, out-half Jack Crowley said there had been no contact, friendly or otherwise, between the two Munster men named on the Boks bench and the Irish camp this week.
Asked what the duo had brought to the club, which won the URC last season, the 23-year-old said: "The physicality but also the way they play the game, the adaptability that they’ve shown to play different styles of the game and how important they’ve been in the last few months for us.
"They are part of the quality that’s in that [South Africa] side, up front and physical, but also able to play with the ball.
"So they are an all-round threat. For Munster, they have been brilliant but for the Springboks, they’ve been immense for the last few weeks."
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