Springboks unchanged for critical Argentina clash
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 08: Faf de Klerk of the Springboks passes the ball during The Rugby Championship match between the Australian Wallabies and the South Africa Springboks at Suncorp Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
South Africa have made no changes to their starting line-up ahead of their vital match against Argentina in Round Five of The Rugby Championship.
The only changes to the squad come on the bench, where 22-year-old Elrigh Louw is picked ahead of Duane Vermeulen as a back row replacement, while Faf de Klerk and Andre Esterhuizen are also named as substitutes.
Victory in Buenos Aires would give South Africa’s title ambitions a huge boost, although they are still reliant on results elsewhere falling in their favour.
They headed into the last round bottom of the table after disappointing consecutive defeats to New Zealand and then Australia, but a dominant 24-8 win in their second game against the latter breathed new life into their hopes of winning the trophy.
New Zealand, on ten points, are ahead of the chasing pack, who all sit on nine points, so it may come down to who can pick up bonus points across their two games.
But South African head coach Jacques Nienaber was solely getting the win this weekend, when discussing what he expected from this weekend.
“It’s always tough to play in Argentina,” said Nienaber.
“They are a passionate rugby nation, and the Pumas will never give an inch. They also draw a lot of energy from their enthusiastic home crowd, so we are expecting a huge battle.
“They place a lot of emphasis on their physicality and their set pieces, and they have skillful backs as well, so they will test us in all departments.
“That said, we have been working hard on the areas of our game that we would like to improve on and we were able to give the players a few days off to rest and freshen up mentally last week, which we believe will set us in good stead for the match.
“We know the magnitude of the challenge ahead and that it will take nothing less than our best efforts for the full 80 minutes to register a victory on Saturday.”
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