“I guess Ireland is always back and forwards, it’s always the team that punches first. We have seen, they have given us a hard time throughout this season, but we have all the pictures now, we know what they’re going to bring and how we can counter-ruck that,” he said.
In the last sevens tournament of the world series in Madrid at the end of May, South Africa went down 21-26 to the Irish, finishing without a win in a tough group that also included New Zealand, another group opponent they face later on Wednesday, and Fiji.
The Blitzboks beat Ireland 22-17 in their pool match in Hong Kong in early April.
That’s 43 points each, though before that the picture was not as pretty, with the South Africans going down to the Irish 0-17 in Los Angeles in March, 10-22 in Vancouver in February and 12-14 in Cape Town last year.
But that is a distant memory.
“I think this team is ready,” said Specman.