Bekker believes home ground advantage will see the Boks through

Bekker has been plying his trade in Japan since leaving Western Province and the Stormers back in 2013, but keeps a close eye on proceedings back home.

He has enough knowledge of current in-form Super Rugby players to know that the Springbok second row is in good shape with the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert in the mix.

The towering lock also backs Springbok head coach Allister Coetzee, his one-time coach at the Stormers, to produce the goods against an Ireland side hungry for a maiden win on South African soil.

“I think it’s difficult for Allister to get a team together in what, two and a half or three weeks,” Bekker said in an interview on the Vodacom Rugby website.

“But I think he’s got a talented group together, with a few good leaders in the team that’s been there for quite a few years.”

Coetzee was only able to unveil his new-look Springbok squad on May 28, as Super Rugby headed into its annual break for the mid-year Test window, leaving him with barely two weeks to roll out his plans for the side before the June 11 Test at Newlands Stadium.

To make matters worse, Coetzee also lost key players to injury. The likes of Pieter-Steph du Toit, Elton Jantjies and Lionel Mapoe, who have been in superb Super Rugby form, as well as Trevor Nyakane and Jan Serfontein, succumbed to various niggles.

Jantjies and Du Toit have made seemingly miraculous recoveries since and have been back in training with the Boks, and could be ready for selection against Ireland sooner than expected. Mapoe and Nyakane have also been cleared to play in the upcoming clashes.

History favours the Springboks though, as the luck of the Irish always seems to abandon them whenever they touch down on the southernmost tip of the African continent.

“It’s a home Test [series], and it’s always difficult for them to beat the Springboks in South Africa,” Bekker said of the Ireland side who have yet to win a Test match in SA.

“For Allister’s sake, I hope it’s a good result for him going forward, because it’s going to be a tough four years going to the World Cup, leading to 2019, so he’s got a lot of hard work, but all the best to them.”

While Bekker, who played his last Test match in 2012, believes the future of Springbok rugby is in good hands with young locks like Etzebeth, Du Toit, De Jager and Mostert, he hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of running out in the green and gold again.

“That’s still in the back of my mind, but it’s a tough one because I don’t think [Coetzee] will go for the older guys now,” he said. “Just to bring an older dog in, I don’t think it’s going to work pushing forward to the [2019] World Cup.”

“But if the question is there, if I’ll play for the Boks if he asks me… that’s definitely yes.”