Porter and the Ireland scrum key to Springbok battle

Breaking down the games within the game in Ireland's meeting with South Africa, there are few individual battles more significant than Andrew Porter versus Frans Malherbe.

It's just over a year since Porter made the decision to switch back from tighthead prop to loosehead, having moved the other way at the start of his professional career.

To the uninitiated he simply moved from the right side of the scrum to the left, but with the front-row being the most technically challenging area of the pitch, it's not as simple as that.

The decision was made to ensure both Leinster and Ireland can have he and Tadhg Furlong on the pitch at the same time, and while both teams have benefitted enormously in general play from the move, the scrum remains a work-in-progress.

Against both France and England in the Six Nations Ireland's scrum was targeted, while Leinster found themselves under similar pressure in the latter stages of the Champions Cup against Leicester Tigers and La Rochelle.

As a test of scrummaging, it doesn't get any bigger than South Africa. Parity with the Springboks would answer a lot of questions about the Irish set-piece.

"It's a huge test. It's a huge test for any team coming up against the Springboks," Porter says of their scrum.

"We know what they are capable of, we knew their strengths, we know they are obviously a hugely talented pack and obviously a physical pack as well.

"That's the thing when you come against world champions, we've nothing to lose. We have everything to gain from this game.

"I think there's a lot of confidence lads are taking from that. Lads are chomping at the bit to get out there on the weekend because we haven't played together since the summer time against the All Blacks."

He admits it was a big