Springboks vs Argentina: What You Need to Know

Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen will lead a new-look Bok team in their final Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday in what could be the competition decider depending on the result between New Zealand and Australia in Melbourne.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber made nine changes to the starting team that went down 35-20 against the All Blacks in Auckland two weeks ago, with the squad featuring a new halfback pairing of flyhalf Manie Libbok and scrumhalf Grant Williams. This will mark Williams’ first start for the team.

Nienaber also rotated his loose forwards with the trio of Vermeulen and flankers Pieter-Steph du Toit and Marco van Staden, who started the opening match of the competition against the Wallabies, returning to the run-on team.

The other changes to the pack of forwards were at hooker, where Malcolm Marx takes over from Bongi Mbonambi, and lock, where Marvin Orie comes in for Lood de Jager.

In the backline, meanwhile, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse – who scored a hat-trick against Australia – will start in place of Makazole Mapimpi, while experienced centre Jesse Kriel will make his first appearance of the season in the midfield alongside vice-captain Damian de Allende.

Nienaber opted for a five-three split on the bench in favour of the forwards, which includes prop Trevor Nyakane, who will provide an impact with Mbonambi, Vincent Koch (prop), RG Snyman (lock) and Kwagga Smith (loose forward).

The three backs on the bench are Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Lukhanyo Am (centre), and the versatile Damian Willemse.

“This is a quality team that will offer us the skills we need against Argentina,” said Nienaber. “It also contains a good balance of experience and youth, which is vital as we build toward the Rugby World Cup.

“There are only four more matches before we kick off our Rugby World Cup campaign so it’s a fine balancing act to give all the players a chance to stake a claim for places while selecting teams that we believe are best equipped for the opposition we’ll face, and we’re pleased with the way we’ve managed that process up to now.

“But that said, we know where we went wrong in our last match, and we are determined to correct the wrongs from that day and get our season back on track.

Nienaber said the fact that the match would mark their last on home soil this year made the match even more significant for the team.

On the other side of the pitch, Michael Cheika has made some changes to his Argentina side which defeated Australia a fortnight ago.

Toulouse centre Santiago Chocobares comes into the No. 12 jersey to make his debut at centre, while scrumhalf Lautaro Bazan Velez comes in to start. Racing Metro speedster Juan Imhoff and Falcons winger Mateo Carreras make up the wings. The experienced Juan Cruz Mallía slot back in at fullback.

Prediction:

Argentina is finding itself some flashy backs to compliment their physical forward pack, and Michael Chieka’s stern coaching methods are showing dividends for the South Americans. However, this Springbok side is a lot more settled and experienced, and has a lot of power and attacking prowess to win what will likely be a tight encounter. Springboks by 7.

Teams:

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8  Duane Vermeulen (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Lukhanyo Am, 23 Damian Willemse.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Lucas Paulos, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c) 1 Thomas Gallo. Subs: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni.

Photo cred: Springboks