Cape Town – The Springboks can clinch the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2009 with a bonus point victory over Argentina in Salta on Saturday and coach Rassie Erasmus is under no illusions as to just how difficult that task might be.
Erasmus has named an extremely strong side for the fixture, although it will feature an all new front row from the team that drew 16-all with the All Blacks in New Zealand two weeks ago.
Erasmus described this weekend’s upcoming encounter as another very important opportunity to build momentum towards the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
“The Pumas are a very difficult team to play at home and they will be fired up for this one in front of their passionate crowd in Salta,” said the Bok coach.
Regarding the tweaked front row, Erasmus said: “This Test is a good opportunity for Bongi and Trevor to start next to ‘Beast’, who has a wealth of experience from playing more than 100 Tests for the Springboks.
“We all know about the massively difficult forward threat of Argentina, however, they are a clever side with skill and pace out wide so we will have to be alert on defence right until the final whistle,” said Erasmus.
The match kicks off on Saturday at 21:40 (SA time).
Teams
Argentina
15 Emiliano Boffelli; 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano; 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli; 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera (captain); 5 Marcos Kremer, 4 Matias Alemanno; 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Substitutes: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Bertanou, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Joaquin Tuculet
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, RG Snyman, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn, Jesse Kriel.
