Preview: Argentina v South Africa (2018)

Last weekend’s 34-21 win in Durban did not come easily for the Boks, however, as they were 14-10 down by the time the sides headed into the interval. However, they would dig themselves out of a hole in the second-half as they have become accustomed to doing.

Rassie Erasmus must be concerned by the fact that his side have too often fallen behind in the recent past only to claw themselves back into games. In fact the Springboks have trailed at half-time in each of their last five games in the Rugby Championship; only to scrounge up a win and two draws in that span.

Argentina did well to unsettle the Boks in that first-half with their line-speed on defence, forcing the hosts to hurry when playing out wide and inevitably make mistakes.

But for a nation that usually prides itself on its forward dominance, Argentina were completely dominated up front throughout the encounter, something that will irk newly-appointed head coach Mario Ledesma; himself a master of the dark arts.

And Bok mentor Erasmus says the Boks are bracing for a response from the Pumas pack.

“We’ve always rated them as a very physical team and we felt the game (in Durban) was physical. They’re going to step it up and I think they will come hard at our mauling, scrums and the breakdowns,” he said.

It was the Boks, who bossed the set-piece in Durban, enjoying an 83 percent line-out success rate to los Pumas’ 64 percent and a 100 percent scrum success rate to their opponents’ 71 percent. The return of Franco Mostert to the starting line-up and Wilco Louw and RG Snyman to the matchday 23 will only strengthen a pack already in fine shape.

Mostert comes into the side at number five for Pieter-Steph du Toit, who drops to the bench. And Erasmus explained the reason for Mostert’s absence in the first Test was due to a heavy workload in 2018, with the Lions having made it all the way to the Super Rugby final.

“Franco needed rest after Super Rugby and the June internationals and we therefore didn’t consider him for Durban. He’s been our first-choice No 5 lock and that’s why he is starting on Saturday,” he said.

With Argentina expected to be an altogether different proposition in front of their boisterous home support, the Boks can ill-afford for Handre Pollard to produce a similarly poor performance from the tee, having kicked just two of his seven conversions last time out.

Players to Watch:

For Argentina: Keep an eye out for Guido Petti. The 23-year-old is very fast for a lock and comes in at 108kg and 1.94m, making him a significant threat with ball in hand and a constant menace on attack. He has a new partner in Tomas Lavanini this week with both key to Argentina’s hopes.

For South Africa: Franco Mostert returns this week having been rested after a heavy workload in 2018. Has been one of the Lions’ standout performers once again throughout the season with his consistent showings. He was at the forefront of the Johannesburg outfit’s onslaught up front and finished the campaign as Super Rugby’s most prolific tackler (234) and line-out jumper (87).

Head-to-Head: 

As always, the battle between the fly-halves will be crucial to the outcome of the game. Nicolas Sanchez was impressive in Durban last weekend, scoring a try as well as kicking three conversions, and is now just 28 points shy of eclipsing Felipe Contepomi as the most prolific Argentine points-scorer in history. Handre Pollard, meanwhile, was a key weapon for the Springboks at Kings Park, beating a team-high four defenders from his seven carries while he executed two offloads. However, Pollard will need to improve off the tee.

Previous Results:

2018: South Africa won 34-21 in Durban

2017: South Africa won 41-23 in Mendoza

2017: South Africa won 37-15 in Port Elizabeth

2016: Argentina won 26-24 in Salta

2016: South Africa won 30-23 in Nelspruit

2015: South Africa won 24-13 in London

2015: South Africa won 26-12 in Buenos Aires

2015: Argentina won 37-25 in Durban

2014: South Africa won 33-31 in Salta

2014: South Africa won 13-6 in Pretoria

Prediction: 

Despite being home soil, it’s hard to see Argentina turning round things so quickly after last week: South Africa by 7.

Teams:

Argentina: 

15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

South Africa: 

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Siya Kolisi (c), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse

Match Details:

Date: Saturday, August 25

Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza

Kick-off: 16:10 local (20:10 BST, 19:10 GMT)

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

by PlanetRugby

There are indeed still a worrying factor and that relates to a change made by Argentina iro of the forwards.   They strengthened their line-out options by bringing on board Lavanini at 5 jumping against Mostert.  Lasvanini weighs in at 132 kgs and is physically much stronger than Mostert.

They also moved Kremer to loosie -so their jumping possibilities have been strengthened as well.  The line-outs was a problem last week and could even be a bigger problem tomorrow.   And their loosie combination is much stronger than the SA one.   

Also worried about the center combination.   Despite the try scored it was not really all that effective.  Pollard also needs to improve his goal kicking by circa 60%.   Any shortfall here would also be negative insofar as he Springboks are concerned,

For the first time ever I am forecasting a draw in the Superbru competition.   

I believe they are going to up their physicality, so we'll see how Mostert fares. However, at 132kg, how will Lavanini last?

The centres weren't brought into the game very much, so I'd like to see a more open game before we play Australia. They were tested defensively for periods in that second half though. What they did do was vastly superior to those before them in the recent past.

Agreed. Pollard must improve his goal kicking. Not only that, both halfback must be more accurate passing. In general there were some silly errors. The team must be more accurate. 

I cannot stress enough how much the Boks dominated the Pumas physically. They were humiliated and bullied; Thrown around like toys often. I cannot see the Pumas delivering a performance anywhere close to that. Of course, the Boks don't always show up consistently. 

A score? Well, let's take a look at past away games first:

2012: ARG (16) vs RSA (16) - (1:1)  Mendoza

2013: ARG (17) vs RSA (22) - (1:2)  Mendoza

2014: ARG (31) vs RSA (33) - (3:3)  Salta

2016: ARG (26) vs RSA (24) - (2:2)  Salta

2017: ARG (23) vs RSA (41) - (5:2)  Salta

The average score is 23-27, tries 2:2. Taking what we saw last week into consideration, I'm inclined to call it Boks 30; Pumas 25. I do expect them to front up, but I also anticipate the Boks will be more accurate. 

There is no indication that Lavanini will not last - his problem in the past was discipline and he is down on that lately.   The loosies of Argentina is worth twice the loosies of the Springboks and in the last three rests Esterhuizen played in he was poor,  poor and average respectively.  Keep up dreaming that he showed anything of substance in those three tests,    Am had more r less the same record.   I hope your fantastic dreams come true - but I am not too optimistic about that.

By the way the draw in Mendoza in 2012 the center pairing was Steyn nd De Villiers.     The  Springboks could have won - but Fransie tried to make a relieving kick from near the Argentine try-line and not being able to see his feet (his stomach got in the way - and the result was that the kicked ball rolled along the ground in the Springbok 22 putting the whole team off-side.   He in fact scored the joint plague for BS kicks with his equally poor partner Morne Steyn - which happened a year later in Perth.   Both kicks has something in common - they both cost the Springboks losses -  Morne and Fat Fransie in fact managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.     

The Bok forwards dominated Argentina. That includes Kitshoff and Thomas. Kolisi was invisible, but when he did some work, he was also too strong. So no, you are wrong. 

Esterhuizen was rock solid. Was one of those who manhandled the Pumas. We just need to get those centres into the game more. 

That 2012 test wasn't good. Meyer was still trying to build that pack. It was Bekker who folded. The outcry was so great that he didn't want to play for the Boks thereafter and openly ceded that he was not in the same league as Victor. The Bok backs were there to defend and it wasn't until he home Aussie test that Meyer allowed the backs more ball. Too bad for you that I know these tests so well. Why are we even discussing that game? 

If you remember that test so well you could not possibly have missed that rolling on the ground kick of Fransie Steyn in the Springboks 22.   There was a similar kick by him in the earlier test against England.     That was when I lost my respect for the guy totally - he was not  shadow of the player he used to be before going to Racing Metro  and has never recovered any form whatsoever subsequently.  

We are sitting in the middle with this call or one...I think we will lose but Rugby 365 preview says 5 points or more to SA ...I ask you what type of call is this..if per chance Pumas get their mogo right and win by a handsome amount will the predictors retreat,,,no of co0urse not but Seb predicts a different result...I won't tell you until after the match but it will be in Argentinas favour.

The  idiot at it again.   There is a reference to past tests and I referred to the Mendoza test in 2012 - and I referred to an incident during that test - which caused the draw.   But the sick mind immediately went sicker and he cannot even comment on the incident or the match - but try t o insult me personally.

This man knows zero about rugby and his childish behavior is typical of the conduct of the habitual liar        

I really don't know why I try. 

The dimmest on earth.   I did mention the reason for the draw in Mendoza and also wrote about the weakness of the Springboks iro loosies and centers.   That was what really happened in the previous Mendoza game.  

This test is the third one played against the Springboks in Mendoza and what happened there was a stark reminder of what is likely to happen today.   It is obvious that the description was factual.

What is also clear is that the reference also bears in mind that Esterhuizen and Steyn are tw o very  similar players - even though Esterhuizen has more pace than Steyn had after his return from France.   Steyn was totally ineffective in Super Rugby - a proven fact - and even though Esterhuizen was much better this year in Super Rugby  - he was ineffective in all three tests he played in.  

That was the real reason for the mentioning of the 2012 test and one can only hope for the best - but in view of the deficient loosies and seriously questionable center pair  -  I have serious reservations about the chances of the Springboks in the test.

He is unbelievably predictable. I posted about an All Black setup, it turns into Meyer thread. I post this, it becomes a Frans thread. So many threads have been ruined in exactly the same way. He doesn't even have anything intelligible to say. It's always wrong. He gets exposed and then repeats it elsewhere anyway. Over and over. What's the point of me even posting?