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Head coach Andy Farrell says Ireland will relish the opportunity to test themselves against the “best in the world” in Saturday’s heavyweight autumn tussle against South Africa at Aviva Stadium.

Farrell’s side prepared for a reunion with the double world champions with a record 46-19 win over Australia in Dublin on Saturday.

South Africa are the world’s top-ranked team and have beaten Japan, France and Italy this month after retaining the Rugby Championship in October.

“[They are] the best in the world. Everyone’s talking about them and the type of rugby that they’re playing,” said Farrell.

“A rich vein of form and rightly so. They’ve played some brilliant stuff.

“It’s a fantastic way to finish off our autumn. The last game at the Aviva. The lads will know what it means to everyone in Irish rugby as well, so we’ll look forward to that.”

Farrell, who has won three out of four games against South Africa as Ireland coach, added: “You always want to test yourself against the best.

Following a dispiriting defeat by New Zealand and an underwhelming win over Japan, Ireland were back to near their best against the Wallabies, with Mack Hansen scoring a first-half hat-trick before second-half tries from Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw.

But Farrell insists his players must find an even better performance to deny the Boks a first win in Dublin since 2012.

“I don’t think it will necessarily be enough, but I like the way that we got out of the way of ourselves,” added Farrell.

“Last week, after a couple of errors we just went within ourselves a little bit and it didn’t happen this week because there were plenty of mistakes.

“It’s always going to happen in Test match rugby anyway, never mind with the conditions the way they were. I suppose that’s the most pleasing part for me.”

Ireland have won four of the past five encounters with South Africa, but Rassie Erasmus’ side arrive in Dublin having beaten France and Italy despite first-half red cards in both games.

South Africa’s win over Six Nations champions France in Paris was especially eye-catching as they produced a stunning second-half performance to win 32-17 having trailed by a point at the break following lock Lood de Jager’s red card.

Asked what he likes most about the Boks from a coaching perspective, Farrell said: “I think it’s their energy and enthusiasm, which is probably driven from a couple of points of difference, one being the defence as in line speed, one being the breakdown and the other being the set piece.

“They get their energy from all of those bits because they do them really well.

“They know their own DNA but they’re able to add a few tricks as well with the type of personnel they have in their armoury.”

With five goals in two huge wins that have propelled Republic of Ireland into the World Cup play-offs, it has been a dream international window for Troy Parrott.

The 23-year-old striker followed up his two-goal salvo against the Portuguese on Thursday with a hat-trick in a comeback 3-2 win against Hungary in Budapest on Sunday which have kept hopes of a first Irish appearance at a World Cup since 2002 alive until next year.

His 96th-minute winner and third of the game sealed second place in Group F and had Dublin Airport jokingly claim on social media that they would be renamed the ‘Troy Parrott Airport’.

Parrott started his youth career in the north inner city of Dublin with local side Belvedere, aged eight.

He progressed through the ranks at the club and by 2017, Parrott was in demand with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all interested in acquiring the then 15-year-old’s services.

In the end, he chose Spurs and left his home town for the bright lights of north London for an undisclosed fee.

A first professional contract would arrive two years later and he began, at 17, to train with the first team squad and the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min under Mauricio Pochettino.

Parrott made his professional debut in a League Cup defeat by Colchester United in September 2019 with a Premier League debut arriving two months later under Jose Mourinho in a 5-0 victory over Burnley.

Sandwiched in between was a first Irish cap in a 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand, with Parrott providing an assist for Sean Maguire.

He would make just two more senior appearances for Spurs as while he impressed at youth level, particularly in the Uefa Youth League, he understandably was unable to dislodge Harry Kane and needed the benefit of playing men’s football.

And work is what Parrott proved he was willing to do, undertaking loan spells at Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston.

None of those proved fruitful so Parrott decided to go abroad as he looked for regular game time and the chance to prove he can score regularly.

He joined Dutch side Excelsior Rotterdam for the 2023-24 season and had a breakthrough campaign, scoring 17 goals in 32 games.

That productive loan spell didn’t change anything for him back at Spurs, so he opted for a permanent switch to the Netherlands and AZ Alkmaar paid £6.7m (8m euros) to sign him on a five-year-deal.

Parrott harboured no ill-feelings towards Spurs and instead reflected fondly earlier this year on his crucial development time spent at the club.

“It just didn’t happen [with Spurs]. I’m OK with that,” he said.

“I look back with a smile. It’s a place where I grew up. I moved away from home quite young, so when I went there, I was in a phase of going from a kid to a teenager and then past that.”

The Dubliner has found a home in the Netherlands and more specifically in Alkmaar.

He netted 20 goals in 47 games last season, including four in a 9-1 win over Heerenveen as AZ finished fifth in the Eredivisie.

Parrott then started the 2025-26 campaign in red-hot form with 10 goals in his first seven appearances before a knee ligament injury stalled his momentum for club and country as he missed the September window.

He returned and hit the ground running again, scoring three more league goals to help AZ sit third in the table.

Bigger clubs may be circling now given his prolific rate of scoring, but Parrott seems settled in the Netherlands and will more than likely consider another move in Europe rather than returning to England if he decides to move on.

On the international stage, 2025, or more specifically November of this year, has really proven to be his time to shine after a frustrating few years for his country.

Since his debut in 2019, Parrott had managed five goals for Republic of Ireland. He has been guilty of playing well but squandering some huge chances.

Since November he has five more goals in just two games.

With his confidence sky high, Irish fans will hope he can stay fit and firing between now and March as he looks to step up again and help the Republic of Ireland to a first World Cup in 24 years.

Fast bowler Scott Boland has identified Joe Root as the England player Australia need to keep quiet in the Ashes series.

Australia have a history of targeting a particular England player – legendary fast bowler Glenn McGrath made it a pre-series ritual to single out England batters, while captain Michael Clarke asked his pacemen to nullify Alastair Cook when Australia won 5-0 in 2013-14.

Root has attracted attention from local media in the run-up to the first Test on Friday given his record of never scoring a Test hundred in this country.

“You always want to take down the best players,” said Boland. “In the past when Joe Root has been captain you want to try to make sure they have as little impact as you can.

Boland, who dismissed Root four times during the last Ashes tour in this country, added: “Hopefully we can keep Joe Root and the guys in the middle-order pretty quiet.”

Boland made a huge impact in that Ashes, his first series for Australia. The 36-year-old took an astonishing 6-7 on debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), part of an overall 18 wickets in the series at an average of 9.55.

Since then he has amassed 62 wickets in 14 Tests at a cost of only 16.53 – just two bowlers in Test history have as many wickets at a better average, and both George Lohmann and Sydney Barnes played more than 100 years ago.

Boland’s only struggle came in the 2023 Ashes in the UK, when a vastly different England team from the one he encountered on home soil attacked his bowling. His two wickets came at an average of 115.50.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “I’ve reflected on that tour a fair bit. There will be tweaks to my gameplan for what I want to do, but I don’t think I need to change too much. I just need to execute a bit better.

Boland looked likely to be a reserve to the first-choice Australia pace attack in this series, but will now be in the Australia XI for the opening Test following injuries to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood.

Boland and Mitchell Starc will probably be joined by uncapped 31-year-old Brendan Doggett as the specialist seamers.

“Obviously you don’t want to be missing two great players like Josh and Pat,” said Boland.

“Our bowling stocks have been really strong for quite a while – no one has been able to break in.

“It’s going to be an exciting time. A new guy or two will get a look in. They’re not inexperienced guys. Brendan is 31 years old, he’s played a lot of first-class cricket and he knows his game. He knows what he’s going to need to do to express his skills out on the big stage.”

Cummins appeared to be bowling at full pace in the nets on Monday as he builds towards a return for the second Test in Brisbane.

England’s method of attacking batting is going to be tested on what is expected to be a lively surface at Perth Stadium.

The tourists’ stroke-makers will also have to adapt to vast playing areas at Australian grounds, much larger than the Test venues in the UK.

“I’m sure it will help us,” said Boland, speaking at Perth Stadium. “Balls that would go over the fence in England have a longer way to go at grounds like here, the MCG and the Gabba in Brisbane.

2026 World Cup qualifier: Northern Ireland v Luxembourg

Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Monday, 17 November Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

Northern Ireland’s trip to Slovakia ended in a late defeat and meant Michael O’Neill’s side cannot finish in the top two in Group A.

But there was a silver lining to the Kosice cloud, as Croatia’s win over Faroe Islands guaranteed Northern Ireland a World Cup play-off.

So, ultimately, the final qualifier with Luxembourg on Monday night is now a dead rubber with nothing on the line in terms of the table.

This one speaks for itself. This is the last time Northern Ireland will play before the World Cup play-off in March.

Despite the feel-good factor that has been restored around O’Neill’s team, they have lost two matches on the bounce and will want to try and get that winning feeling back against Luxembourg.

There was a sense that momentum was firmly on Northern Ireland’s side after the win over Slovakia last month that had Windsor Park bouncing.

The outcome on Monday may not change their position, but the game with Luxembourg is an opportunity to show the past two games were just a bump on the road, rather than the journey veering off course.

Northern Ireland already know their play-off semi-final will be away from home, so it is the perfect opportunity to send O’Neill’s side off with three points.

O’Neill will have a number of selection dilemmas for the final qualifier.

The injured Shea Charles and Ali McCann are both still missing in midfield, and George Saville will join them on the sidelines through suspension with his late yellow card against Slovakia his second of the campaign.

Daniel Ballard will also sit out that game after his even later dismissal in Kosice.

In the forward line, Dion Charles was taken off at half-time and his replacement Jamie Reid also limped off in the second half.

That could leave O’Neill with just three options up front for Monday. Josh Magennis is the natural choice, and he came off the bench in the second half in Slovakia.

Jamie Donley replaced the injured Reid and played alongside Magennis, while Callum Marshall, who has often featured out wide for Northern Ireland, could get a shot in his more natural central forward role.

“I have said in the past that I would like to see Callum Marshall get a chance,” said former Northern Ireland defender George McCartney.

“He is a natural goalscorer, a clever player, and come Monday it is a possibility he could play.”

Other youngsters who may get a chance to shine are midfielder Jamie McDonnell, who O’Neill said he was close to selecting in Slovakia, Barnsley’s uncapped former Coleraine star Patrick Kelly or defender Terry Devlin, who recently scored twice for Portsmouth.

Off the back of that, the potential introduction of youth may allow O’Neill to experiment before the play-off.

A lot of that comes down to a simple question – how do you get the best out of Conor Bradley?

He was not as effective as usual when playing further forward against Slovakia, but with the greatest of respect to Luxembourg, playing against a lower standard of opposition may allow him to slot into the role.

With Trai Hume at risk of suspension for the play-off semi should he be booked in Belfast, Bradley or Devlin could also slot into place at right back.

There’s a similar conundrum on the left-hand side. Justin Devenny, the centre midfielder-turned left wing-back, has excelled in an unfamiliar position.

But he is also at risk of suspension, which could see Jamal Lewis come in.

With nothing to lose, Northern Ireland can go for it and try new things, but there is also that yellow card tightrope to keep under consideration.

“We know how good our squad is and how players are ready to step in and put a performance in as every single player in the squad wants to play,” young defender Ruairi McConville said after the loss in Slovakia.

This one isn’t directly linked to the game with Luxembourg, but with a play-off in the bag Northern Ireland can look forward to discovering their possible opponents for March.

O’Neill’s side will face a semi-final against a pot one side in March.

As things stand, that will be one of Italy, Turkey, Poland or Ukraine – but things could still change.

There remains a chance, should they not win their respective groups, that Germany, Denmark or Austria could yet be involved too.

The play-off pots will be determined by the world rankings at the end of qualifying, so Northern Ireland won’t know their possible opponents for sure until then.

Off the back of that, the draw for a play-off final is an open one so, if Northern Ireland can negotiate a tricky semi-final away from home, then there is a 50/50 chance that the final could be at Windsor Park.

And that is why it is important to try and keep their Belfast home as much of a fortress as possible.

The loss to Germany was a first home defeat for Northern Ireland in seven matches, a run which stretched back to October 2023 against Slovenia.

Northern Ireland were unlucky not to get something against the Germans, too, and it will be important to keep that mental advantage that home turf is as strong as possible.

Northern Ireland will be hoping that the draw for the play-off final is kind and brings a home draw.