Irish teams have risen to the challenge of taking on the elite South African teams on their own territory and the results are showing.
The Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions joined the United Rugby Championship for the 2021/22 season replacing the Southern Kings and the Cheetahs, who had competed in the Pro16 from 2017 until 2020.
Last season, the top South African franchises, who had previously been part of Super Rugby, won eight of nine home games against the Irish provinces.
But this season, Irish provinces have won five of six URC games in the Rainbow Nation.
Last weekend both Leinster and Munster claimed away victories, against the Lions and the Stormers.
"Definitely, I think if you look at last few years since we started coming over here, logistically even, it's a lot better than it was at the start," said Leinster contact skills coach Sean O’Brien.
"The whole set-up has adapted to that so coming away from home it’s obviously good weather as well so there’s a feel-good factor.
"It’s just about putting in good performances. You don’t want to come over here just to soak up some sun or just to take part in it.
"Munster had a great win at the weekend, we pulled it out of the bag in the end.
"Irish teams are going well and definitely getting more used to coming over here in these environments and playing at altitude, in our case last weekend.
"It’s a great experience for us all."
Leinster prop Ed Byrne spoke about his experience of playing at altitude against the Lions in Johannesburg.
"It was my first time doing it so it was tough, it’s more on the lungs than the legs but it’s that kind of burn sensation in your lungs," he said.
"When I came on there was nearly half an hour to go and I was grand for the first 20 minutes of that but for the last 10 minutes we were chasing that win and it started to really hit then but thankfully we pushed through and got the result."
Leinster and Munster will bid to join Ulster in winning both away URC games against South African opposition this season, with fixtures against the Bulls and the Sharks on Saturday.
On the threat that the Bulls, who thrashed Zebre 78-12 last weekend, will pose to Leinster’s ambitions of finishing the regular season unbeaten, O’Brien said: "[They are] big and physical and they play on top of teams.
"We saw that Zebre couldn’t deal with not winning the gain line in defence and when you can’t do that against a quality side like the Bulls [you’re in trouble].
"Big humans beings running over the top of people, it’s pretty simple – space is going to come somewhere.
"Obviously, with their back-three and the pace they have in the team, you can’t kick loose to them or not have a good kick-chase.
"They have plenty of threats and there’s lots of ways the Bulls can score. We are really going to have to be on our game defensively and when we have the ball we can play our type of game."
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