Aviva Stadium has scars for Rassie that only the Boks can fix

In Dublin

SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said he has a score to settle with the Aviva Stadium as the Boks head to the ground for the 15th time to play against Ireland on Saturday.

While three of Erasmus's 35 Tests as a player came against Ireland, he only played once at Lansdowne Road, where he scored in the 27-13 win back in 1998.

Plenty of playing and coaching water has gone under the bridge since that result as the Irish have turned the tables on the Boks at home to a point where five of their six Bok home wins have come since 2004.

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That the Irish and the Boks haven't met since 2017 isn't in Erasmus's control, but when he was at Munster, the Aviva Stadium wasn't a friendly ground for him.

He was a spectator when the Boks were thumped 38-3 in November 2017 but in May of that year, he was part of a Munster contingent that was beaten 46-22 by Scarlets in the Pro12 (now United Rugby Championship) final at the Aviva Stadium.

15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux

Erasmus hoped that he and the Boks would have better memories of the ground after Saturday.

"I haven't won a game here. I think I last won here as a player when I was part of a team and it was still the old stadium," Erasmus said.

"I haven't won here with a Munster team or the Boks. When I came here with Munster to play Scarlets in a Pro14