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Springboks poised to overtake All Blacks in Rugby Championship

By Rugby365
(Photo by MICHAEL SHEEHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the Rugby Championship, an important game is still happening this weekend.

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South Africa are poised to replace New Zealand as Rugby Championship leaders on Saturday by defeating Argentina for a second time in seven days.

The All Blacks top the Springboks on points difference after both secured bonus-point victories last weekend in the opening round of the annual southern hemisphere competition.

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Mzwandile Stick and Siya Kolisi talk about Rugby Championship venue options

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Mzwandile Stick and Siya Kolisi talk about Rugby Championship venue options

However, next weekend’s scheduled match between Australia and New Zealand in Perth has been called off after the All Blacks announced Friday that they were withdrawing from the tournament until fixtures have been rescheduled to work around coronavirus restrictions.

Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber and counterpart Mario Ledesma have rung the changes for Saturday’s match.

The Springboks have made 11 alterations, including recalling backline stars like wings Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi and flyhalf Handre Pollard, who were rested last weekend.

Despite resting those stars and a few others, the Springboks convincingly won last week’s match with a 32-12 scoreline.

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“You can never underestimate the power of the Argentinian side,” said Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick. “We know they are a very physical side and they are very passionate about their jersey and they got good players.

“Our players were switched on for the [first] game. They knew the challenges they were going to face in the game and we knew what we wanted to achieve. We had a good plan and the plan was to respect Argentina.

“For us, it wasn’t a matter of disrespecting them it was a matter of making sure we selected the best possible team at that time.”

Stick is expecting the physicality to go up a notch in the second test.

“I think they selected a very strong and experienced squad,” Stick added. “Argentina always bring the physical challenge.

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“They are very emotional and everything they do as a country you can see there is passion behind it.

“If we want to stand a chance to win the game physically, we need to pitch up. We know it’s going to be a physical game, but the team that is going to be more disciplined in how they execute the physical side of the game will have a good chance of winning the game.”

Meanwhile, Ledesma has made six personnel and two positional changes as the Pumas seek only a second victory in South Africa, where they have lost 13 tests.

The biggest surprise is the demotion of long-serving flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez to the bench with Domingo Miotti taking his place.

Ledesma will be hoping his team can do a better job of unlocking the Springboks’ defence.

“We weren’t happy with that [attacking game],” said Ledesma.

“I thought we didn’t execute well because we were under pressure from the South African defence.

“Everybody is trying hard to score [against South Africa], but we think we can do things better and we think we can take to the field what we have been practising during the week.”

Players to watch

South Africa: The defending champions have several key players back for the second Test. Wing Cheslin Kolbe is a match-winner, and he has the skills to unlock any defence. Centre Damian de Allende was probably South Arica’s best player during the B&I Lions series. He carries the ball powerfully and will give the Argentinians plenty of problems in the midfield. Among the forwards, lock Marvin Orie starts for the first time after five appearances off the bench, which allows Eben Etzebeth to take a break.

Argentina: Flyhalf Domingo Miotti has a massive job on his hands. He comes into Saturday’s Test with only four caps to his name. However, he could be the spark that gets Argentina going on attack. His halfback partner Gonzalo Bertranou is a tricky customer around the rucks and he will provide Miotti with some quality ball. Lock Guido Petti moves to the back row for Saturday’s match and his physical presence will be needed against a big Bok pack.

Head-to-head

Los Pumas know that if they have any chance of upsetting the Springboks at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium they will need to try and nullify the Springboks’ pack.

Ledesma has made some changes to his pack with Guido Petti adding some more muscle to their back row to help combat the likes of Franco Mostert and Siya Kolisi in the physical exchanges.

Tomas Lavanini gets a start in the second row and he is a player who likes to play on the edge. His inclusion will provide Marvin Orie with a big test in that second-row battle.

In the backline, Santiago Chocobares and Jeronimo de la Fuente will have to be on top of their game if they are going to contain the world’s best midfield pairing in the form of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am.

Prediction

South Africa by 15 points.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Trevor Nyakane.

Replacements: 16 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Nicolaas van Rensburg, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Dan du Preez, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Damian Willemse.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Santiago Chocobares, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.

Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Lucio Cinti.

Date: Saturday, August 21
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 17.00 (12.00 Buenos Aires time; 15.00 GMT)
Expected weather: Mostly sunny skies with a high of 18°C and a low of 9°C. Winds WSW at 15 to 30 km/h.
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)

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A
Adrian 43 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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