South Africa will be seeking to avoid any unnecessary scares when they take on underdogs Argentina at the start of their Rugby Championship campaign today, but will be wary about what looks on paper to be a routine assignment.
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has spent the week stressing the difficulty of the task at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria when many of rest of his compatriots are looking further ahead to the meetings with Australia and New Zealand in the annual four-nation competition.
“Argentina have always been difficult to play against, so we are going out there to play our best rugby possible,” Meyer told reporters.
A bruising forward challenge is expected as Argentina have shown signs of becoming a scrummaging force again and they will have a polished set of exciting backs to boot.
“In the scrum it’s a huge contest, you have to scrum well to get your ball. They have some of the best guys at the breakdowns,” Meyer added of an Argentina team who have spent close to a month working on their conditioning at a high performance center in Pensacola, Florida.
South Africa, who have captain Jean de Villiers back from injury, will be firm favorites to get off to a winning start, but the unpredictable nature of the South Americans means the Springboks can never be sure of what they will be up against.
Although they are yet to win a Rugby Championship game, Argentina show continuing sign of improvement, but usually offer either stout resistance or implode as they did last year when the Springboks romped home in a nine-try 73-13 rout at Johannesburg’s Soccer City.
However, a week later, albeit on Argentine soil, South Africa had to scramble two late penalties to squeeze home 22-17 in Mendoza.
Argentina have a familiar look about their lineup as well as a promise of freshness with the appointment of Daniel Hourcade as coach and hooker Agustin Creevy as the new captain.
“South Africa are a thoroughbred team with strong players and a physical game, both in attack and defence,” Hourcade said on Thursday.
He was appointed to a two-year contract after the end of last year’s Rugby Championship.
“Discipline will be crucial and we have talked a lot about this and trained hard for this. Defense is key, but we will use our opportunities to attack,” he added.
Meanwhile, Argentina retained just two players from their last starting lineup when they named a near full-strength side for their opening match against South Africa.
Injured winger Juan Imhoff is the only major absentee from the squad named on Thursday by Hourcade, who had rested most of his first-choice selections for the June tests against Ireland and Scotland.
Flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez and winger Manuel Montero are the only players retained from the side that lost 21-19 to Scotland in Cordoba in their last Test on June 20.
“The players have had very good preparation and trust they will be able to deliver on the pitch,” Hourcade told reporters as he named the team.
England-based hooker Creevy, 29, will captain the side for the first time, but will not be short of experienced advisers with former skippers Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Juan Fernandez Lobbe and Martin Landajo all in the lineup.
Fernandez Lobbe returns after an injury-plagued season, as does center Juan Martin Hernandez, both of whom last played for the Pumas in October last year.
The two countries meet again on Aug. 23 in Salta, Argentina.
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