Ireland icon Brian O’Driscoll predicts Andy Farrell’s charges to sneak over the line and bag the W against the Springboks in a much-anticipated World Cup clash on Saturday.

The world’s No 1 and 2 teams, who have both won their opening two matches, lock horns at a sold-out Stade de France, knowing that victory is likely, although not certain, to give them top spot in the group and a likely quarter-final against the All Blacks rather than hosts France.

Ireland claimed a narrow win when they faced the Boks last November, and speaking on Off The Ball Breakfast, former British & Irish Lions skipper O’Driscoll reckons it’s fair to say the Irish can scalp the world champions in Saint-Denis, although the scoreline will be tight.

“Weirdly I can understand it,” O’Driscoll said in reference to his fellow former Leinster star Andy Dunne’s prediction that the Irish will win by ‘more than 12 points’. “If Ireland can click, I think they can cause every team, including this South African defence, real problems.

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“We’ve got a phase gameplay that nobody else can quite match. Even the All Blacks of the last couple of years haven’t been able to reach the quality and ability to be able to cause defences problems.

“I do feel we have that capacity more than anyone else in the world at the moment. But, can the smothering defence of South Africa keep us at bay? I don’t know.”

“We were close in November to cutting them apart,” O’Driscoll added. “I get a sense that we’re going to cut them apart quite a few times.

“Can we convert them? Will their scramble be able to make up for some of their shortcomings, or will we put them away? One of my pals, ‘Ireland by seven’. I bravely shot back, ‘Ireland by nine’. That’s probably lofty. I think Ireland might sneak it by four or five.”

Photo: Paul Faith/AFP