The Springboks have everything to play for as they head into Saturday’s clash against Argentina in Santiago. Should they avoid defeat, the Rugby Championship trophy will be coming home.
A win would also be the sixth in succession in the Rugby Championship, which would be the Springboks’ longest winning run in the competition (or its Tri-Nations forerunner), exceeding five consecutive victories recorded in 2009.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made 10 changes to his starting team, while in-form Argentina have stuck with a largely settled line-up that is led by the experienced Julian Montoya.
FOLLOW THE SPRINGBOKS-ARGENTINA LIVE SCORING BELOW:
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matias Moroni.
Date: Saturday, September 21
Venue: Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero
Kick-off: 18.00 (23.00 SAST; 21.00 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Matt Carley (England), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
Stats and facts
Springbok record against Argentina:
Played 36; Won 32; Lost 3; Drawn 1; Points for: 1 239, Points against: 691; Tries scored 145, Tries conceded 65; Highest score 73-13; Biggest winning margin 60 points. Win % 88.9%.
Despite this highly favourable record, the predominant theme from the Springboks this week has revolved around reiterating how much respect they have for the in-form Pumas.
“Argentina are a force to be reckoned with at home and they’ll be even more charged up for this match knowing that a bonus-point victory or victory could keep them in the race for their first ever title, so we know they will not give us an inch,” said Rassie Erasmus.
“They are a quality team with strong forwards and talented backs, and they like to keep the ball alive, so we need to be accurate in every aspect of our game and deny them from stamping their authority, but rather enforcing our style of play on them.
“Our players understand the importance of this match in every respect, and one could see from our training sessions in Stellenbosch last week and since yesterday that they are switched on and ready to give their all, as this match is equally important for both teams.
“We have no doubt it’s going to be epic and could come down to the wire, but we live for these moments as a team and hopefully we can deliver on what we set out to do and get the desired result.”
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION FOR SATURDAY?
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