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Springboks v Pumas: Everything you need to know
South Africa’s Rugby Championship opener against Argentina on Saturday signifies the start of “the real challenge” for the Springboks, according to Eben Etzebeth.
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Etzebeth will skipper the side in the absence of captain Warren Whiteley – ruled out following groin surgery – and acknowledged Allister Coetzee’s side have a lot of work ahead to restore themselves as one of the sport’s most dominant sides.
A disappointing Rugby Championship in 2016 was followed by defeats to England, Italy and Wales in the November Tests, but a 3-0 whitewash of France in June has provided a huge confidence boost.
Stormers lock Etzebeth is keen for the Springboks to continue their push for improvement at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this weekend.
“It is difficult to judge yourself when you are playing against just one team,” Etzebeth told SuperSport. “The championship consists of matches against several teams, so it is now that the real challenge starts.
“We were quite happy with what we managed to do in the June series, but we know that we now need to step up a level. There were areas we felt needed improving so hopefully we will be better in the championship.”
A 26-24 victory over South Africa was Argentina’s only win in the 2016 Rugby Championship. They recovered from back-to-back defeats at home to a largely second-string England side in June by thumping Georgia 45-29, but must step up in the face of much sterner challenges in the coming weeks.
#PersonalRugbyChampionship
Ejercicio de destrezas de encuadre del tackle para los pilares.#SUDvARG pic.twitter.com/LvOALKN5Uw— Los Pumas (@lospumas) August 18, 2017
HEAD TO HEAD
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Springboks: 21 wins
Pumas: Two wins
One draw
KEY PLAYERS
Springboks – Elton Jantjies
No one scored more points in the 2017 Super Rugby season than Lions fly-half Jantjies.
Although the Johannesburg side fell at the final hurdle for the second successive campaign, Jantjies’ haul of 197 points proved his worth. He struggled to get going in last year’s Rugby Championship but notched 52 points and his first international try in the victorious series against France, holding him in good stead for the tournament.
Pumas – Martin Landajo
Argentina enjoyed the most time in possession of any team in last year’s Rugby Championship, an average of 17 minutes and 12 seconds per game.
If they can repeat that, the distribution of scrum-half Landajo will be key to their hopes of getting under way in positive fashion. The 29-year-old will also be eager to impress when he makes his 70th appearance for the Pumas this weekend.
#PersonalRugbyChampionship#FormaciónPumas @MartaLandajo llega a los #70test con la camiseta de @lospumas el sábado vs @Springboks pic.twitter.com/pCRNnTK6FV
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) August 17, 2017
THE LINE-UPS
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Springboks: Andries Coetzee, Raymond Rhule, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Courtnall Skosan, Elton Jantjies, Ross Cronje; Tendai Mtawarira, Malcolm Marx, Coenie Oosthuizen, Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi, Jaco Kriel, Uzair Cassiem.
Pumas: Joaquin Tuculet, Ramiro Moyano, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Emiliano Boffelli, Nicolas Sanchez, Martin Landajo; Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Agustin Creevy, Enrique Pieretto, Guido Petti, Tomas Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Tomas Lezana, Leonardo Senatore.
PRE-MATCH TALK
Ross Cronje: “We are very excited to get going and I feel we have an exciting backline at our disposal, which if we play well could unleash great possibilities. We have lots of grit plus a bit of flair, and that makes for a good mix that is exciting from a backline point of view. We know they [Argentina] were successful with their aerial attack last year but this time we have a definite plan to counter them.”
Tomas Cubelli: “We have a style of play that bothers them. They have trouble tackling us. We have hurt them with our attacking in all the games we have played. Although they are a top-level team, a superpower, I think we can cause them problems.”
Before tomorrow’s game, see Allister Coetzee’s thoughts on the French Series and Castle Lager Rugby Championship >> https://t.co/Z4kGAYWU8y pic.twitter.com/FnzSdCeXXK
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) August 18, 2017
OPTA STATS
– The Boks are undefeated from their previous four fixtures at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, restricting their opponents to just 10 points per game on average at the venue.
– The Springboks have lost seven of their last nine games in The Rugby Championship, including their heaviest home defeat ever in their last such match (57-15 against the All Blacks).
– Los Pumas enjoyed the most time in possession of any team in The Rugby Championship 2016 (17m 12s per game), as well as boasting the best ruck success rate (96 per cent) of any of the four nations.
– Juan Manuel Leguizamon (77) is poised to equal Pedro Sporleder (78) as the third-most-capped forward in Pumas history; only Rolando Martin (86) and Mario Ledesma Arocena (84) have played more.
Comments on RugbyPass
The author is 100% right. The Springboks know that they don't have near the natural attraction, mana, skill and mystic the All Blacks have. So, Chasing the sun 1 & 2 was concocted to overblow the Boks image on the back of a corruptly obtained “win". It's marketing ploy to force the Boks delusion as the World's Best. I guess World Rugby is also not to be believed when it came out with an apology about how the final was officiated. And if the 2023 final such a superb game by the Boks, then the Boks crying about Referee Bryce Lawrence for decades is also deserves a laugh. Chase the sun and get burned like a moth. A very well written literary piece that tore the Boks and Chasing the sun farce to shreds. 🖤All Blacks🏉
141 Go to commentsI’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
141 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
141 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
141 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
141 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
141 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
141 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
141 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
141 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
141 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
141 Go to commentsHo hum.
141 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
141 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
141 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
141 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
141 Go to comments