Durban — Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says his team effectively played a Rugby Championship “quarter-final” against Australia in Sydney two weeks ago and face a “semi-final” in Buenos Aries on Saturday before playing the Pumas again in a “final” in Durban on September 24.
That is how the Boks are approaching their last games of one of the tightest ever Rugby Championships, and if they win these “knock-out” games they will not only have a very good chance of winning the title — it won’t be guaranteed because New Zealand are one point ahead on the log with also two games to go — but the Boks will also have had a dress rehearsal of sorts ahead of next year’s World Cup.
“We are treating our two games against Argentina as a semi-final and final,” Nienaber said from the Argentine capital after having named an unchanged run-on fifteen for the first time this year.
He has made three changes on the bench, though, bringing in youngster Elrigh Louw for veteran Duane Vermeulen; Faf de Klerk at scrumhalf for Cobus Reinach; and utility back Andre Esterhuizen for Warrick Gelant.
“If we want to win the Rugby Championship we have to treat these games as win-at-all-costs, knock-out games,” the coach stressed. “Also, this game will have a lot of heat and pressure, not unlike what we will get in the World Cup, and it will be interesting to see how our guys handle it. This is an ideal game to test out players in a high-pressure environment.”
The word from Argentina is that this game against the Boks has been long targeted by Pumas coach Michael Cheika, who left a few key players at home for the two-match trip to New Zealand where the All Blacks were shocked in Christchurch before rebounding spectacularly in Hamilton.
Nienaber says the Boks are preparing for the Pumas incarnation that beat the All Blacks and also the Wallabies (in Argentina).
“The Pumas are definitely targeting this game,” Nienaber said. “We are under no illusions as to which Pumas team we are going to get. They will be a fired-up physical side. The one that knocked off Australia and New Zealand, and now they want to knock us off.
“It is a passionate country and they are a proud team,” the coach continued. “They have had a lot of challenges —like not having a competition to play in (like Super Rugby or the United Rugby Championship) — and have had to bring in their players from all over the world, and those struggles give them strength.
“They are tough and are difficult to break down and they really want to perform for their home fans. The Pumas are well-coached and have good experience in their forwards and some very skilled backs.”
Commenting on the changes among the replacements, Nienaber said: “Our plan from the outset was to give a few players a chance to prove what they can do and to build their Test experience, especially with the Rugby World Cup a year away, and there is no better opportunity to do so than in a match which essentially amounts to a semi-final for us if we want to win the tournament.”
Springboks starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.
IOL Sport