The Springboks are heading into a title-deciding match against Argentina in London this Saturday, but the good news is that they don’t need to chase a try-scoring bonus-point.
Rassie Erasmus’ side are well positioned at the top of the Rugby Championship standings, one point ahead of the All Blacks, and with a vastly superior points difference (+55 to New Zealand’s -6), which could be a decisive factor if teams finish level on log points.
Knowing how well the team’s attack has been performing of late, though, the Springboks will have been keeping one eye on the weather forecast in London – particularly at this time of the year.
As it is, there is predicted to be heavy cloud cover and steady rainfall on Friday in particular, and some light precipitation could persist through to Saturday morning.
However, the good news is that the rainfall is expected to stop just prior to kick off at 15:00 (SA time), and it’s likely to stay away for the entire match, although there might be some blustery winds.
Springboks should be confident of getting the job done
Ultimately the Springboks should be able to focus on playing a similar brand of rugby to that which has brought them such rich rewards in their last two games, but Erasmus also issued a warning about the threats posed by an Argentina side with nothing to lose.
“Last week they were in the running to win the title, and they’ll be determined to make up for that result, so we are expecting them to throw everything at us on Saturday.
“They may be out of the title race, but they have beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, and British & Irish Lions this season, and it would be a big target for them to defeat us as well, so it’s going to be another hard grind.
“They have a powerful pack and hard-running backs, and they showed in the first half last week that if they stick to their structures and play well, they are a huge threat.
“That said, the focus for us is on what we have to do to try to win the competition twice in a row for the first time, so the stakes are high for us, and we know what we are capable of if we remain within our structures and play for the full 80 minutes.”
Erasmus added: “We’ll be in the fortunate position to know exactly what we need to do in the match to win the competition before we take the field as Australia and New Zealand face one another before our match, but we still need to go out there and deliver against a quality outfit.”
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against Argentina
Played 39; Won 34; Lost 4; Drawn 1; Points for: 1 382, Points against: 757; Tries scored 164, Tries conceded 73; Highest score 73-13; Biggest winning margin 60 points. Win % 87.1%.
Miscellaneous:
- The Springboks have won 11 of their last 13 matches against the Pumas, dating back to 2018, with their only two defeats being in Argentina, in Santiago Del Estero (last season) and in Mendoza (in 2018).
- The teams have crossed paths in London only once before, in the bronze final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with the Boks winning the match 24-13 at the Olympic Stadium.
- Siya Kolisi will play his 98th Test match, leaving him only two games short of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game.
- Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 138 Tests when he takes the field on Saturday.
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jesse Kriel have both scored 95 Test points and require only five to make it to 100 in the green and gold.
- The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 797. There are 264 caps in the backline, with 533 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 343 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 38, the forwards 67, while the players on the bench average 43.
