Kolisi: Current Irish team 'much better' than 2017 side
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi is braced for an even greater threat from Ireland after admitting his last Dublin Test match was among the toughest days of his international career. The Springboks have not faced the Irish since suffering a humiliating 38-3 thrashing at the Aviva Stadium five years ago. Flanker Kolisi is among 10 South Africans who played that day and have a chance for retribution during Saturday evening's sold-out Autumn Nations Series opener. The World Cup winner says painful memories of 2017 still linger and believes the hosts are now a "much better" team after making huge strides under Andy Farrell to become rugby's top-ranked side. "Of course we have touched on the last time we played against Ireland but this is a whole new team," said Kolisi. "For us it's something that we can't forget. I remember we were here and it was very tough. It was one of the toughest days for most of us in the Springbok jersey. "But it's a different team, a lot of guys weren't there that game and they (Ireland) have evolved as a team, they're much better than they were that time. "We want to build on what we've done this year. The biggest thing for us - we're third in the world right now - is we want to give our best against the number one."
