Ireland vs South Africa pre-match talk and squad announcements.

The much anticipated Autumn Iinternationals has arrived and South Africa will begin their three test tour against Ireland on Saturday at Landsdowne road. With a record of only one win in their last four test matches and 3 straight losses between 2004 and 2009, the Springboks would like to continue their resurgence against Ireland and emulate their two point victory of 2010.

But will they be up for an Ireland team who have been just about as disappointing as the Springboks were in 2012.

Ireland who boast wins over Scotland and Italy and a Hard earned draw over France at Stade de France earlier in the year has a disappointing return of 5 losses, 2 wins and 1 draw for the year.

South Africa has not fared much better, with 4 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws for the year.

Both teams will rue lost opportunities during the year where execution and specifically goal kicking have haunted the Springboks in Particular. Their goal kickin records stands at a miserly 55% for the year and will lose you more tests than win.

Ireland will be without their inspirational captain Brian O'Driscoll and South Africa after a long season will bewithout the services of Arguably the best Hooker in world rugby Bismarck du Plessis, the athletic Andries Bekker, talisman Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies, Heinrich Brussow, Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana (yeah I know I am complaining a bit much here), Frans Steyn and Coenie Oosthuizen.

Will this end of season tour be a bridge too far for an injury riddled South African squad or will they be able to overcome an Irish team who hasn't convinced this year.

Likely SA matchday 22.

1. Beast Mtwarira
2. Adriaan Strauss
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Juandre Kruger (Marco Wentzel)
6. Francois Louw
7. Willem Alberts
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Ruan Pienaar
10. Patrick Lambie
11. Francois Hougaard
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Jaco Taute
14. JP Pietersen
15. Zane Kirchner

Bench
16. Gurthro Steenkamp
17. Schalk Brits
18. Pat Cilliers
19. Flip v d Merwe
20. Marcelle Coetzee
21. Franco v d Merwe
22. Jan Vermaak
23. Morne Steyn

I'll update if someone provides me a likely Irish matchday 22.

Jees Biltong who know's who Kidney will pick?!

Will he stick to his old favourites :- ROG, Jones, O'Callaghan or will he throw a few curveballs in there and be a bit bolder?

I'll go with:

1.Healy
2 Cronin
3 Ross
4 O'Connell
5 O'Callaghan
6 Ryan
8 Heaslip(c)
7 Henry
9 Murray
10 Sexton
11 Zebo
12 D'arcy
13 Earls
14 Trimble
15 Bowe

16. Court
17. Strauss
18. Bent
19. Touhy
20. O'Mahoney
21. Reddan
22. Jackson
23. Jones

Biltong wrote:
But will they be up for an Ireland team who have been just about as disappointing as the Springboks were in 2012?

I presume this is a joke question? Ireland beat Scotland and Italy in 2012. That's it.

Ireland will be without their inspirational captain Brian O'Driscoll and South Africa after a long season will bewithout the services of Arguably the best Hooker in world rugby Bismarck du Plessis, the athletic Andries Bekker, talisman Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies, Heinrich Brussow, Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana (yeah I know I am complaining a bit much here), Frans Steyn and Coenie Oosthuizen.

Hmmm. Ireland are missing that Irish guy, O'Driscoll. Should be a walk in the park for SA.

A walk in the park for SA? Not sure it will but I would be more confident if Drico and best were available.

Ferris confirmed out on the beeb. Not sure if Healy, POC and earls will be fit. ROG is grand though

So confirmed out are

Ferris
Bod
Best
O'brien
Kearney

That's 5 of our first team and 3 of our top performers.

GunsGerms wrote:A walk in the park for SA? Not sure it will but I would be more confident if Drico and best were available.

Oh thank god ROG is ok. We can all breathe a sigh of relief now.

Our backrow looks very weak without SOB and ferris.

How long has Ferris been out for and what has he been out with? He's such a great player and I don't see O'Brien's name on the list so they are big losses for Ireland. Healy can be a menace at the breakdown but I'll be interested to see Henry and Ryan in action because I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about them. Lambie may well be at flyhalf for SA but Ireland need to make that return to that position as uncomfortable as it gets to disrupt SA. If SA are allowed to get a roll on through the forwards, it'll make life a lot more difficult for Ireland. Ireland need to have a huge effort in the forwards and disrupt SA possession like Ireland did against NZ in the second test and like SA did against NZ. SA have a few big men out which makes it slightly easier for Ireland but they still possess a lot of punch and Louw has been SA's most consistent player probably this year and a great find.

BOD is a big loss but most of all defensively in my opinion. D'Arcy and BOD may have lost a little in attacking threat over the years but defensively they are as formidable as ever and the centre partnership has not been too flash this year. If Meyer has any tactical nous, he would do well to introduce JP Pietersen at 13 and there up against Earls I think this could be a problem for Ireland.

Weather may play a big part and it often puzzles me with a pack as big as SA's how often they struggle up north when bad weather is a factor.

Kia Meyer said he was going to play JP at 13, but with the injury to Habana there are no experienced wings left.

Mvovo is inexperienced , Raymond Rhule only 19. So therefor not possible

Kia expect Ryan in the 2nd row. I dont rate him at all at 6. I would highly doubt he will play there, I say it will be O'Mahony.

Ferris was injured on Friday. His ankle and knee are the issues I think. Uclear to what extent mind you

It seems like forever he's been out. Such a shame as SA have a similar player in Juan Smith who deserves to be seen by the rugby world. Two genuinely world class players.

Cheers guys for the update. I do seem to recall Ryan now LeinsterFan4Life in NZ replacing either POC or OC. Who do you think therefore will be at 6?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:It seems like forever he's been out. Such a shame as SA have a similar player in Juan Smith who deserves to be seen by the rugby world. Two genuinely world class players.

Cheers guys for the update. I do seem to recall Ryan now LeinsterFan4Life in NZ replacing either POC or OC. Who do you think therefore will be at 6?

It will probably be O'Mahony. Can't see a victory here at all. our backline looks rubbish, especially if Bowe is wasted at full back.

Kearney is a big loss. I imagine he would've eaten up any high balls SA kicked his way. It seems like you have just as many injury concerns as SA but not the same depth to cover those players. Not to mention it must grate with SA that they have lost their past few games against Ireland and have a dismal run against Ireland away. They will no doubt be looking to improve on their last match against NZ but then again so too will Ireland. If both sides are fired up it's going to make for a spectacular collision at the breakdown. The backline play might not be pretty but who cares if we get an almighty tussle up front.

They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

I'll get my coat.

That happened in Hong Kong against Australia for us. Some things are worth blocking from memory. Like Brisbane last month.

Biltong wrote:

Ireland who boast wins over Scotland and Italy and a Hard earned draw over France at Stade de France earlier in the year has a disappointing return of 5 losses, 2 wins and 1 draw for the year.

Yikes if that's a boast then Kidney has dragged us down even further than I had thought.

On a more general note I can't call this match.It could be a close match or either team could win comfortably but the amount of injuries makes analysis of the game extremely tough,I am pessimistic about our chances but S.A. have major problems too.

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

Ireland woke up about 60 minutes into the game and managed to come back into it and O'Gara missed a kick at the death to tie it up. But SA deserved to win on the day.

Line-ups from 2010 match - Irl 21-23 SA
Kearney , Bowe, BOD, Darcy, Fitzgerald, Sexton, Reddan, Heaslip, Wallace, Ferris, O'Driscoll, O'Callaghan, Buckley, Best, Healy
Reps: Cronin, Court, Ryan, Leamy, Stringer, O'Gara, Earls

Aplon, Basson, Kirchner, de Villiers, Habana, Steyn, Piennar, Spies, Smith, Stegmann, Matfield, Botha, J du Plessis, B du Plessis, Mtawarira
Reps: Ralapelle, van der Linde, van der Merw, Daniel, Hougaard, Jacobs, Lambie.

Substantial changes on both sides since that match.

Ireland 2012
Healy is nursing an injured shoulder. If he gets injured...
Best is out. Cronin or Strauss are able replacements
Ross is in good nick, Tom Court has been in good form for Ulster, but seems to melt at test level. Bent is the unknown quantity.
O'Connell is 50/50 in my view. Could get crocked again in the game.
Ryan should be partnering him. Tuohy, Toner and O'Callaghan are middling replacements
Ferris is out. McLaughlin, O'Mahony are decidedly second choice in this position
O'Brien is out. O'Mahony is able replacement, Jennings not picked, but Ulster's Henry the form player.
Heaslip is in good nick and improving in form this season. Could be captain.
Murray/Reddan/Marshall - who knows who Kidney will pick. Speed of ball from ruck is the critical factor in my view, rather than bulk.
Sexton is in - and is in good form. Could also be a captain pick. O'Gara as back-up unfortunately.
Darcy is in - and will likely start.
O'Driscoll is out. The perennial argument as to who replaces him - Earls, Bowe, Cave are less than stellar in the defence department compared to him.
Kearney out at 15. Jones a second best replacement, or else a deputing winger.
Plenty of wings available - Trimble, Bowe, McFadden, Earls, Zebo, Gilroy.

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

Yeah it was Kidney that made the team make basic mistakes and take the wrong options alright....

DOD wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

Yeah it was Kidney that made the team make basic mistakes and take the wrong options alright....

Ah come on DOD, even you were calling for Kidney to be sacked.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

DOD wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

Yeah it was Kidney that made the team make basic mistakes and take the wrong options alright....

Ah come on DOD, even you were calling for Kidney to be sacked.

Missed that post DOD,I have you on ignore since you talk such crap I can't be bothered reading it anymore.Just letting you know so you don't need to waste time replying to me again.

Pothale this is nothing against you but see the next person who suggests Court is on the same side as Ross and not Healy I swear I'm going to ........ Court is a Loosehead prop who can if needed in a tricky situation play tighthead. He plays well for Ulster because he is played in his proper position.

Court is in excellent form, in fact he's a better scrummager than Healy on the loosehead side.

Not saying that he should start ahead of Healy but Court, being an Irish-Aussie Ulsterman, he is a soft target for the Irish media and has been a bit of a scapegoat for them when things go wrong with the Irish scrum.

Ross was getting beasted before Court came on last March and I'd like to see how Healy would have done against Cole on the TH side. Not good I'd have thought.

Court is a very good LH and we are lucky to have him as a back up to Healy. The fact that the IRFU have only recently came up with some credible alternatives to Ross at TH - Fitzpatrick and Bent- isn't Courts fault.

rodders wrote:
Not saying that he should start ahead of Healy but Court, being an Irish-Aussie Ulsterman, he is a soft target for the Irish media and has been a bit of a scapegoat for them when things go wrong with the Irish scrum.

Has he? I know he is not exactly a fans favourite but thats because he isn't a very dynamic player.

He certainly has in some quarters of the Irish media for the hammering at twickenham.

He is actually pretty mobile and dynamic for a prop, not to the degree Healy is off course, but he's much better than he gets credit for.

Not really prof, you see hes a PROP. He carries the ball well enough, he scrummages well on the loosehead. What more do you want?

A tighthead? He's not a tighthead.

My ireland team would be (plenty of ulster bias and emphasis on youth in here)

Healy
Strauss (project or not, he is the best available)
Ross
Ryan
POC
Henderson (good enough and old enough. Our own etzebeth)
Henry
Heaslip
Reddan
Sexton
Zebo
Marshall (can't see anyone agreeing but a 12 needs to distribute)
Earls. (bit of a gamble given his injury but was showing good form prior to it)
Trimble
Bowe

Cronin, fitz, court/kilcoyne, Tuohy, POM, Murray, Jackson, McFadden


Massive, massive gambles but what exactly have we to lose? I honestly believe we will lose if we go for the old experience/damage limitation route. Go for a younger, dynamic selection where possible and let them learn. Anyway that's my 2 cents

Standulstermen wrote:My ireland team would be (plenty of ulster bias and emphasis on youth in here)

Healy
Strauss (project or not, he is the best available)
Ross
Ryan
POC
Henderson (good enough and old enough. Our own etzebeth)
Henry
Heaslip
Reddan
Sexton
Zebo
Marshall (can't see anyone agreeing but a 12 needs to distribute)
Earls. (bit of a gamble given his injury but was showing good form prior to it)
Trimble
Bowe

Cronin, fitz, court/kilcoyne, Tuohy, POM, Murray, Jackson, McFadden


Massive, massive gambles but what exactly have we to lose? I honestly believe we will lose if we go for the old experience/damage limitation route. Go for a younger, dynamic selection where possible and let them learn. Anyway that's my 2 cents

That pretty much what i would go for. L. marshall would be too much of a gamble for me, so i'd probably play Darce... TBH Wallace is easily the form 12 in Ireland.

Toml

Im not suggesting Marshall deserves his shot and to be honest throwing him in with earls is a massive risk but the ideal situation would have been blooding a new centre alongside BOD over the past 3/4 years but we have always found excuses not to do it to the point were we are in the trouble we are now

Yeah I agree with that, but I could see the press going for him if he didn't excel. If McFadden was the answer he'd be there by now. Sexton moving to 12 would be my preferred option if Leinster gave him some game time there

Unless we are going to experiment we are going to see the same old stuff. I watched DK's interview during the Ulster game, what a load of old twaddle. Just pick the inform players and see what happens for once!!!! Tthe way I see it, we are going down in the rankings unless we give these new boys a chance who will take their chance and show us something new. I could be wrong but, I want to see a an Ireland side that will play to the players strengths not the same old stuff we come to expect. Sorry to paint a doomed picture but I am not holing much hope at the minute. With so many players injured, nows our chance to show the world what we can do, not what they expect us to do!!!

I should add I'm massively peed off with munster dropping hanrahan down to the AIL after motm in his first game. Absolute bloody madness. He clearly is up to it. Give him the chance!

Bit of a tangent but the relevance would be I hope to see him come into extended squads soon, given his rate of progression

A back row of Henderson – Heaslip – Henry would actually be pretty good I think.

In fact, our pack will (with no NEW injuries please) be decent.

Healy – Strauss – Ross -> that’s a proven front row who have shown that they can play against the best in the business, adapt their game if it’s not working and go for plan B.
Ryan – POC -> again, a combination that are familiar with eachother, their ballast behind a solid front row will be helpful and either can call a lineout move
Henderson – Heaslip – Henry -> all hard hitting, 3 more options in the lineout, a good mix of ball carrying and ground work too

With a bench of Court, Cronin, Touhy and POM there is still good impact off the bench.

The backline is a fookin omnishambles though!

DOD wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

Yeah it was Kidney that made the team make basic mistakes and take the wrong options alright....

Highlights from that game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La3iYZFyzSg

O'gara nearly won it. Two tries in about 10 minutes.

DOD - think Madigan needs a lot more coaching, though I'm beginning to think that Leinster are over-coached. Missing Leo / Bod, they can't think for themselves at all.

im guessing we are looking at
bowe,trimble,earls,darcy,zebo,sexton,murray,heaslip,omahony,dryan,poc,donners,ross,strauss,healy
subs: court,bent,cronin,mcloughlin,henry,reddan,rog,mcfadden

met gerry thornley on the dart and he confirmed this

it would be harsh on chris henry but i cannot see him picking omahony and henry as flankers even though i would. south africa have a massive back row and i can see us trying to counteract them.

i would be still confident that the above 15 with a different coaching team could play some good rugby and nick a result.

How do Irish fans think this one will go? I myself think SA should win, they have a good side albeit with many injuries after a long season and IRE I have read have lost 3 key key players in Best, BOD and Ferris. Quality should bring SA through... but only if they start well.

The one thing I would say is if IRE can get amongst SA early on it will be quite a contest. This SA sides if it lacks one thing its leadership.. its quite inexperienced. A few years ago the Pack had 4 out of 5 provincal captains in their pack (Smith, Burger, Matfield & Smit).

Now they only have 1 (Strauss) and he isn't even a first choice player. When the going gets tough you need those experienced players to calm heads, put in the big hits and mentor youngsters.

Not a bad side though, far from it. They're not for the taking but put in a performance, make them doubt themselves and it will be very interesting turnout.

fa0019 wrote:How do Irish fans think this one will go? I myself think SA should win, they have a good side albeit with many injuries after a long season and IRE I have read have lost 3 key key players in Best, BOD and Ferris. Quality should bring SA through... but only if they start well.

The one thing I would say is if IRE can get amongst SA early on it will be quite a contest. This SA sides if it lacks one thing its leadership.. its quite inexperienced. A few years ago the Pack had 4 out of 5 provincal captains in their pack (Smith, Burger, Matfield & Smit).

Now they only have 1 (Strauss) and he isn't even a first choice player. When the going gets tough you need those experienced players to calm heads, put in the big hits and mentor youngsters.

Not a bad side though, far from it. They're not for the taking but put in a performance, make them doubt themselves and it will be very interesting turnout.

We've also lost both of the last 2 European players of the year (SOB and Rob Kearney) and Paul O'Connell is a doubt. We're as badly hit with injuries as we have been for a looooong time.

I think we are capable of winning. Even with BOD, SOB, Ferris and Best out...and POC is not 100%.... er thats pretty much our best players...

However there's enough quality guys playing good rugby around still - Sexton, Trimble, Zebo, Tuohy, Henry, O'Callaghan, Bowe, Heaslip etc. - to get a result but Kidney has a habit of either sticking with the same core players or making bizarre knee jerk reactions without much tactical thought.

If Kidney sends a team out to shut SA down and play negatively (as usual) then we will come off second best imo... but if guys like Sexton, Bowe, Strauss, Healy, Murray, Ryan etc go out and play heads up, positive rugby with quick ball then we have a chance for sure.

hard to say mate. Kidneys Ireland always have a big performance in them never been the issue but typically we make one step forward three steps back. We have been going backwards the last two years and there is no sign of progress

To me Ireland need to start well and get the crowd into the game. A few linebreaks an early try something. If we play our usual highly conservative game plan with pods of static forwards all over the shop and insist on our half backs box kicking and garryowening the sh1te out of the ball we will be in for a long evening.

The anticipated South African 15 is still very strong and has both power and pace not to mention some youthful energy. I think the set piece will be fairly even but South Africa will have the edge in backs and back row. Their backs showed some promise towards end of rugby championship.

South Africa by 5.

Ireland by 7 is my call.

We have to turn this slump around and bounce back from that disasterous summer series. There's too many good players to just slide meekly out of the top 8 and get turned over on home soil without a fight.

The credibility of Irish rugby is on the line this Autumn. The players can't hide behind the provincial performances, we need a big Autumn and 6N to breath some life back into the side.

sin e as for leinster being over-coached are you having a laugh?

leinster players are all allowed to think for themselves and play things as they see it on the field. thats why they are 3 times european champions and good to watch.

of course schmidt has given Leinster some structure and set piece moves. i wouldn't mind if les kiss "over-coached" the ireland backs the way schmidt does for Leinster. fingers crossed he has already started

i will agree that madigan is not the finished article. bit to go yet.

Sin é wrote:

DOD wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Notch wrote:They beat us last time they were in Dublin, in a diabolical match that was very sparsely attended due to extortionate ticket prices.

That was a horrible match,one of the worst Bok teams (in performance not personnel) I have ever seen beat us out the gate without playing well at all,a game riddled with mistakes by both sides.

We were awful and it was this game that finally made me realise Kidney was the wrong man to take us forward.He had earned a lot of goodwill with the GrandSlam but it was eroded by that time and that god awful game took away the last of it.

Yeah it was Kidney that made the team make basic mistakes and take the wrong options alright....

Highlights from that game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La3iYZFyzSg

O'gara nearly won it. Two tries in about 10 minutes.

DOD - think Madigan needs a lot more coaching, though I'm beginning to think that Leinster are over-coached. Missing Leo / Bod, they can't think for themselves at all.

Actually its Sexton who calls the plays. It was he who called the play that got us the try in the HC semi against clermont.
But we did miss their leadership against the O's yesterday.

rodders wrote:Ireland by 7 is my call.

We have to turn this slump around and bounce back from that disasterous summer series. There's too many good players to just slide meekly out of the top 8 and get turned over on home soil without a fight.

The credibility of Irish rugby is on the line this Autumn. The players can't hide behind the provincial performances, we need a big Autumn and 6N to breath some life back into the side.

Did you get tickets for the SA game?

Leinster lost 4 games last year, BOD played in two of them (half of the league games he played) and Cullen involved in all 4 games that we lost.

I reckon that last season, we were without both Cullen and BOD for 15 games, and we won 100% of them.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

rodders wrote:Ireland by 7 is my call.

We have to turn this slump around and bounce back from that disasterous summer series. There's too many good players to just slide meekly out of the top 8 and get turned over on home soil without a fight.

The credibility of Irish rugby is on the line this Autumn. The players can't hide behind the provincial performances, we need a big Autumn and 6N to breath some life back into the side.

Did you get tickets for the SA game?

Yeah did LF4L! Upper tier 65 euro...Deccie better not let me down!

rodders wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

rodders wrote:Ireland by 7 is my call.

We have to turn this slump around and bounce back from that disasterous summer series. There's too many good players to just slide meekly out of the top 8 and get turned over on home soil without a fight.

The credibility of Irish rugby is on the line this Autumn. The players can't hide behind the provincial performances, we need a big Autumn and 6N to breath some life back into the side.

Did you get tickets for the SA game?

Yeah did LF4L! Upper tier 65 euro...Deccie better not let me down!

Was that on ticketmaster? thats a rip off. I got middle tier for 27 for the ARG game. I guess they were finding it hard to sell them.

Yeah Ticketmaster..cheapest ones left were 55 euro... decided to plump the extra 20euro(for 2) on the basis I won't get the chance for while....

Mrs P has answered this already but does anyone know the quickest and handiest way to get from Inchicore to the Aviva and back? Also what time to set off from there for a 5.30 KO? Is there a DART?

Cheers....

inchicore to aviva. taxi your best bet i reckon

only other option would be luas from blackhorse ave to the o2 and walk from there over Eastlink.

Some southsiders might be able to point you at a bus : 0

How much would an out-of-towner like me be expecting to pay by taxi then dave?

Luas might be the ticket. Is it pretty regular?