South Africa’s Springboks take on Los Pumas of Argentina in the Rugby Championship in Durban on Saturday, with Boks coach Rassie Erasmus keeping faith with the team that thumped New Zealand two weeks ago.
The Boks beat the All Blacks 43-10 in Wellington to keep the Rugby Championship table interesting with two rounds to play. The Boks have lost twice in four fixtures so far, once to Australia (who top the standings) and the other to the Kiwis in Auckland.
Eben Etzebeth and Damian Willemse have been named as starters, replacing Lood de Jager and Aphelele Fassi from Wellington. As such, Damian de Allende and Canan Moodie will be the centre pairing.
Erasmus said of the importance of the clash: “This is a vital match for both us and the Pumas, and if one takes into consideration that they beat New Zealand and Australia in the first four rounds of the competition, as well as the British & Irish Lions earlier in the season, there’s no doubt we’ll treat them the respect they deserve.
“They’ve made big strides in the last few seasons, and have an astute coach in Felipe Contepomi, so we know they are going to throw everything at us. Adding to that, they boast a strong forward pack and extremely talented backs, so they pose threats all around.”
The Bok coach, however, said the Boks were geared up for the challenge: “We’ve had a good few training sessions since assembling last Thursday, and the players know what they’ll be up against.
“Similarly to us, Argentina are a tremendously proud and passionate team, and they give everything for their country. They know that two good results could place them in a decent position to win the competition, so it’s going to be a hard grind of a match.
“As things stand, any team could win the title, so we need to capitalise on the point-scoring chances we create and play for the full 80 minutes if we want to get the desired result.
“Over and above that, we’ve faced them in Durban three times, and they’ve beaten us once, and that, combined with their self-belief, means the historical results between the teams will have no significance going into the clash.
“They are also ranked sixth in the world ahead of the Wallabies, so we do not underestimate them.”
Springboks: Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe, Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth, Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche.
Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Boan Venter, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Morne van den Berg, Manie Libbok, Andre Esterhuizen
