Springboks vs Pumas (Official Thread?)

Just thought we could turn this into some sort of "official thread" for the game.

Santiago Phelan has named the team that will take on the Boks this weekend. As I said on another thread, Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe will not play, but the good news is that Patricio Albacete -- although injured -- is expected to be fit for the game.

There's a couple surprises in this team. I believe Phelan has selected a team focused on neglecting the kicking game the Boks will surelt unfold. With that in mind, Juan Martín Hernandez, who played as fly-half in the warm up games, has been shifted to fullback. Hernandez is exceptionally talented under the high ball, and has a good kicking game. The young and promising Nicolas Sanchez take the fly-half role. Sanchez, despite his size, is a tremendous tackler and more of a running flyhalf. His game is less conservative than that of Hernandez, but more error prone (as is the case with attacking flyhalves).

Eusebio Guiñazú was preferred over Agustín Creevy. This may have to do with the fact that our first choice loosehead prop, the world-class Marcos Ayerza, is also injured. As a result, Guinazu (a loosehead prop himself), will give Los Pumas a more stable scrummaging platform. Juan Figallo, our tighthead (and one of the VERY few props who can pack on both sides of the scrum) switches to loosehead, with my U20 mate Matías Díaz packing as tighthead.

Another U20 player takes over as openside flanker. Pablo Matera. Immense talent. He's not the typical opensider, in that his game revolves more on traditional breakdown play as opposed to fetching. He also has a very complete running game.

Juan Imhoff will make his first RC start on the left wing, with the livewire Gonzalo Camacho on the right wing. Felipe Contepomi will slot in as inside centre and will captain the side. Outside him will be Marcelo Bosch, who recently joined Saracens.

Team lineup:

LOS PUMAS: 1- Juan Figallo, 2- Eusebio Guiñazú, 3- Matías Díaz, 4- Patricio Albacete, 5- Manuel Carizza, 6- Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7- Pablo Matera, 8- Leonardo Senatore, 9- Martín Landajo, 10- Nicolás Sánchez, 11- Juan Imhoff, 12- Felipe Contepomi, 13- Marcelo Bosch, 14- Gonzalo Camacho, 15- Juan Martín Hernández.

Replacements: 16- Agustín Creevy, 17- Nahuel Lobo, 18- Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19- Mariano Galarza, 20- Julio Farías Cabello, 21- Tomás Cubelli, 22- Santiago Fernández, 23- Horacio Agulla

Hoping for the Bok XV now!

Glad things are working out for you and glad you will be playing for the Chiefs!  Best of luck against the Boks, I am sure the Pumas will give them a run for their money.

Thanks for the tips on who is starting mate :) This means I already have to make changes to my Fantasy Rugby side, lol

 Putting Hernandez at 15 does look like blunting the kick and chase that the Boks are sure to follow.  

A solid boot and good under the high ball are vital against the Boks, that is assuming the up and unders are well placed, if not well placed then a counterattacking fullback would be better. Hernandz should be make the requirements for both.

Good to se Filpe Contepomi at 12, and he should combine well with Nicolas Sanchez. 

If Argentina dominate possesion we may see some good running by the backs. 

Hopefully the boks improved backline attack in 2013 continues. Our counter attacks and even phase play backline attacks are looking way more potent that what was dished up in 2012.

Go Boks!

 This is a MUCH better team than the one that faced England in June Tests. Reckon with Guinazu over Creevy they are going to really go after the Bok pack. DuPlessis is going to be under a lot of pressure. If the pack can pass this test it will set them up well for Aus/NZ.

Backline is dangerous too - going to be a cracker of a game. Man I love this sport !

 Looking forward to the game and seeing where the Boks are. Scrum time will be of major interest.

Thomas you did not make the match 22?

all my puma players in my team are playing so no changes so far.

team looks all right, guinzau at hooker loses nothing, im pretty sure he was the rake for all the pumas game last year in the RC.

but why is fernandez on the bench??? he was one of the key players in their upset draw against the Boks last year, and IMO, contepomi should have been 10 and fernenandez at 12.

smart to put hernanedez at fullback, it cracks me up that the puma dont have to wait for the Boks team to be named to know that 10 man rugby is what they best prepare for, LMAO, :oD
hernanedez at fullback though will prob cut out the numebr of counter attacking opportunites though, and as im expecting a lot of bafana bafana tactics from the Boks, there will be plenty of opportunities.

and where is martin rodriguez, is he injured or out of form??? i thought he was very reliable for the pumas last year.

good luck to the pumas, Boks at home on mandela day??? tough ask for any team.

South Africa by 30 

1 try and ten penalties

"Thomas you did not make the match 22?"

Baboon-ou, answer me this, you spectacularly stupid little man, why would Tomas suddenly crack the match 22 when he wasn't even in the extended squad?

Seriously now, spare me your high-pitched squawking and your inane blabbering and just answer the flipping question!

Thanks Mike being so busy I do miss some threads these days.

Was chimp ou trying to grunt something? 

Is SA going to be made to play Argentina 1st every year? All we are doing is playing the Argies when they are high on passion and bodies are raring to go. After we have roughed them up a bit, passion subsides and bodies are hurt, we flick them over to NZL to catch a pounding!

Your'e welcome AB's! Hopefully this year Argies will be able to finish like they start. Would like to see how NZL go against them in Argentina in the first/second game of the season.

@boklogic,

LMFAO, :oD

the excuses get more creative by the thread, dont blame u though, ur a saffa, if only the Boks could play rugby the way the fans play excuses.

BTW, by ur theory which is complete and utter shite, would mean the All Blacks get to play the wallabies and soften them up and they were ranked No2 this time last year
mean while argentina are only ranked 10th at the moment???

its good to experiment with excuses i guess, but stick to the it was the refs fault, like Bok 10 aman rugby it may be predictable as a mofo, but its the only thing u can do well.

Oimatey

Agreed. The team that played England in June was "Argentina C", so to speak. The gap in terms of experience, technical / tactical nous and conditioning was way too big to overcome for our guys.

Guiñazu is the traditional hooker. Strong scummager, good thrower, and good in the tight. Creevy on the other hand is a hooker in the Bismarck mould -- a converted loose forward. Highly mobile, with good hands, great fetching technique and a knack for dishing out some nice offloads.

Sasuke

Contepomi was preferred over Fernandez as the Head Coach believes he offers more "X" Factor in attack. Santiago Fernandez is a monster in defense, I've played against him many many times and it's incredible how easily he puts in some solid tackles.

Martin Rodriguez Gurruchaga was left out of the touring squad but he will be back for other games. This year Phelan will implement a much more active rotation policy to avoid playing the guys into the ground (as it happened last year). I believe Gurruchaga would be nice to have at inside centre, where he plays for Stade Français. He's a hefty player and brings some unpredictability in attack.

@olecruz,

smart move to rotate players, i always thought the pumas would beat the wallabies in argentina, pumas should be much tougher at home this time round.

fernandez is one of those players who dosent look big but everyone has trouble putting him down, like contepomi, his ability to play first reciever made him a huge asset at 12
i rated him a lot after the 2012 RC/4nats, was not well known to me until the RWC.

i can see why rodriguez might not make the starting team, especially with the Boks kicking game being the very very very VERY likely tactic, but i cant help but feel could have at least been on the bench???
 

Sasuke. Tell me. SA players have less skill according to everyone right? Then how come most of our tries are from individual brilliance compared to NZ tries come from team work? 

@spoony,

are u sure u wouldnt prefer someone who said or implied that SA players have less skill to answer that question???

@spoony,

nope, just asking if u wouldnt prefer someone who said or implied that SA players have less skill to answer that question???

No Sas, Aussies have been in this tournament from beginning so they know what to expect by now and how key depth is. Argentina was a learning curve. They ran out of steam. They had key players that were sore and tired. All I am saying is dont read too much into how we go against them as its a totally different challenge playing them first vs last. They will get better but it will take a few years.

Just worry about how we go against you guys. Bring all your "2nd best" players in the world you can find because after the Boks are done with you, you will be the 2nd best team in the world too ;-)

Not sure if this belongs on the Official Thread but it should be of interest :) 

13th August 2013 18:37

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Experienced campaigner: Felipe Contepomi

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Felipe Contepomi will captain Argentina against South Africa on Saturday in the absence of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

 

 

Live-wire Fernandez Lobbe was ruled out of the encounter due to a calf injury, with his place on the side of the scrum taken by Pablo Matera.

 

Marcos Ayerza is another to succumb to injury, with the prop sidelined by cartilage damage. Matias Diaz comes into the starting XV as a result.

 

Contepomi missed out on last year's Rugby Championship and as a result will be notching up his first appearance in the competition. Matera and Diaz will also be making their tournament debuts.

 

Argentina: 15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Matias Diaz, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Juan Figallo.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Julio Farias Cabello, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Horacio Agulla.

 

Date: Saturday, August 17
Kick-off: 17:00
Venue: Soccer City, Soweto

@boklogic,
rubbish, a 10th place ranked team is 10th for a reason. a thrid place ranked team is thrid for a reason. to suggest that only the puma would have been worn facing the Boks is typical
but like i said, saffas are the king of excuses and u and beeno are leading the polls, so what ever helps u sleep at night after that 2nd Bok/puma test in 2012 is fine with me, its an excuse thats so full of kak and bleongs with all the other ones that we hear here daily.

but the All Blacks didnt have too much trouble beating the Boks in sowetto, in fact we smashed u for a 6 in ur own backyard, do u really think its unreasonable that the All Blacks couldnt at the very least have beaten the pumas in argentina??? just cos the Boks couldnt do it, dosent mean we couldnt have. food for thought aye???

and trust me, i aint worried about the Boks one bit. we got u beat player to player from 1-23, and even our coaches are better.
the wallbies are the All Blacks biggest threat in 2013.

and i wouldnt worry about trying to reclaim the No1 rank which the All Blacks have had for over 80% of the time since its exsitence, i would worry more about losing 2nd place to the wallabies which u won by the skin of ur teeth last year, IMO the Boks wont win any games against their SANZAR bros this year, :o)

@spoony,
i can answer ur question with ease, but why should i when its clear it was never originally meant for me??? so answer my question and then ill answer urs, -_o

@yellowman,
hey dumbass, All Blacks will be No1 regardless of the results in the bledisloe cup this week, know ur place No3.
and i like surprises, let me guess, mackenzie lost 40kgs cos he used up most of his eating time this week on talking up the wallabies??? LMFAO, :oD

@spoony,

first of yes, i did say the Boks 10 man rugby is what everyone inculding the pumas are expecting, i mean the pumas are even preparing for it moving their flyahlf to fullback and they havent even seen the Boks team yet, o_O

but secondly none of that implies the SA players have less skill then everybody even if u chose to read it that way. at worst i had a laugh as i implied how predictable the Boks 10 man game is, based on player selection and a trend which dates back to ever since ive wathed the Boks.
i dont know why ur made such a fuss, considering the number of Bok 10 man rugby jokes u have made urself???
and thats why i danced around the topic so much, but for the future, i would rather dance with a shark cheerleader, LMFAO, :oP

as for this,,,
"Sasuke. Tell me. SA players have less skill according to everyone right? Then how come most of our tries are from individual brilliance compared to NZ tries come from team work?"
"So Sasuke you say Kiwi players don't have more skills? "
first of do the Boks really score more indvidual tries then the All Blacks, cos somehow i dont think thats true and will have to look into it by watching all the tries scored, something tells me though that considering the All Blacks always score more tries then the Boks year in and year out u wont be in the right, but thats just an opinon, i would have to watch it all to know for sure.
what i can say for a fact is in 2012 the All Blacks scored 50 tries in their tests, while the Boks only scored 23. the All Blacks did play two more tests  then the Boks in 2012, so feel free to say that the boks prob would have scored 27 tries if they played two more tests, cos quite frankly ive blogged here for a while and ive read more stupid things then that.

but if ur going to ask do the saffa players have more skill then the kiwi players based on the number of individual tries, then the answer is no.
i can say for certainty though that the All Blacks vs Boks in 2012 saw the All Blacks score more team tries and as many individual tries as the Boks.
there were two individual tries scored between the All Blacks and Boks and both were in the dunedin test. habana scored a try after getting a beautiful ball from pienaar and speeding past smith before doing a little chip over savea for a nice try. and aaron smith scored the other individual try where goosen leaves a big hole around the fringe of the breakdown and smith runs circles around greyling before stepping inside krichner to score.
for the record though aaron smiths try by the very definiton of individual was the only individual try, as his hand was the only hand to touch the ball after that phase, while habanas recieved his from pienaars, but no need for me to be anal, so i will gladly count habanas try as 'individual' brilliance, ({muttering} even if i have to ignore the meaning of the word individual).

 Habana received the ball from Flouw :) 

Sasuke do you really believe the All Blacks are better man against man 1 - 23?

@shezza,

correct louw did pass that ball.

i believe that the All Blacks are better everywhere, except for strauss/du plesiss v hore/kev regardless of who starts and habana and who ever is his counterpart.

& my prediction, Bokke 39 --15 .

Not saying its a fuss Sasuke. Just wanted a answer to the question.

And how did Habana get 50 International tries btw considering he is no 11? 

 Prediction

44-17

 Question marks for the Boks are the loose trio.Collectively they lack a bit of pace for a hard highveld ground. Secondly Vermuelen has not played a game for months and one wonder s how fit Alberts is.These two could run out of puff at altitude.

Secondly if Ruan doesnt attack a bit neither he nor Morne pose too much of a threat. Note how both Genia and Smith are attacking threats. 

Finally will Basson be exposed on defence.

I also think Kolisi on the bench is not in the same class as Deon Fourie.  

This is NOT the best Bok side but should be good enough to beat the Argies by say 20.

Goi Bokke!!

Good luck to both teams, I hope we get to see a good game of ruger!

Prediction, Boks by 15 confidence partly restored.

 6--0 boks in 12th minute. A little sloppy at the rucks with Argentina trying to spoil but giving away penalties.

 Boring! No forward dominance or spectacular back play.

 What about the power play by Vermuelen in the 24th minute? Busted the line, and offloaded to JJ. 

Boks have dominated one  argentinian scrum .

Attack of fist phase scrum allmost leads to try

Rolling maul still the Boks/Bulls main weapon, looks good.

 The pace of JJ Engelbreght fastest man on the field follows up Willies Kick. Looks like a true bok legend.

Smart play by Morne and not kicking instead spreading the ball wide to counter attack.

 That's a big play that combined with player off and injuries things are not looking too good for them. Could be a good warm-up game for Boks.