Bok giant Ruan Nortje eager to make South Africa proud against Ireland

Nortje was visibly disappointed following their nail-biting 21-19 Nations Championship defeat against France. Despite a strong second-half performance, the Boks came up short in their fifth Nations Championship match of the season, at the Stade de France in Paris.

Following New Zealand's defeat against Wales in Cardiff, in which they got two bonus points, South Africa now trail the All Blacks by one point on the Southern Hemisphere table, with one round to go before the Finals Weekend.

"First of all, credit to France - it was a great occasion to be a part of, and it's always a privilege to play at Stade de France," said the 28-year-old.

"Unfortunately, there were too many errors from our side, and we didn't convert our chances into points when we got into their 22m area, so there are a lot of work-ons for us going into next week.

"That said, I'm proud of the effort by the boys, they never backed down and fought until the end, but it's definitely a tough one for us to swallow."

Looking forward to Saturday's clash against Ireland in Dublin, Nortje sees it as a chance at redemption.

"We have a big challenge awaiting us next week," said the Japan-bound player.

"There's been a rivalry building up with Ireland over the last few years, and it's always a massive game against them, so we'll have our work cut out.

"The important thing is that we have to focus on ourselves and ensure we fix several areas of our game, so we can go out there and represent our country with pride. We do it for the South African people, day in and day out. It's about making them proud, so hopefully we can rectify things next week."

Reflecting on the match, Nortje said they always expected a massive battle against Les Bleus, and he showed immense respect to them for the way they ground out the result.

"We've always seen a lot of flair in their game, so there was nothing unexpected," said the lock.

"All credit to them for sticking it out until the last minute to ride out the win."

The Springboks arrived in Dublin on Saturday and will start their preparations for the match at the Aviva Stadium on Monday.

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