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The eighth edition of the Rugby Championship begins on Saturday. For Argentina it is the beginning of a new era as the coaching regime of Mario Ledesma begins. Ledesma is the third Pumas coach since the inaugural competition in 2012.
Argentina’s tournament begins away to South Africa in Durban. It is a city of great meaning to Los Pumas given Argentina’s win in the city in 2015. Star performances from that day were backs Marcelo Bosch, Juan Imhoff, and Juan Martín Hernández. None have played since RWC 2015 with Hernández now retired.
South Africa are a vastly changed team since 2015. On the one hand veterans have been replaced while on the other those who were the youth then are today world-class names. Combined they hold up the long-standing tradition of the Springboks as a global force in rugby.
In the June Internationals South Africa completed a 2-1 series win over England. The Springboks did so with a number of players missing to injury. Against Argentina on Saturday the team is at full-strength with a world-class line-up named.
Second-rower Eben Etzebeth, hooker Malcolm Marx, and back-rowers Francois Louw, and Warren Whiteley are all back in the mix and will start against Los Pumas. Etzebeth joins Pieter-Steph du Toit in locking the scrum while Louw and Whiteley join captain Siya Kolisi in the loose forwards.
In the backs Wasps fullback Willie Le Roux and fly half Handré Pollard offer extensive experience. They are joined by a fresh pairing both on the wings and the mid-field. Scrum-half sees AJ MacGinty’s pattern at Sale Sharks, Faf de Klerk playing inside Pollard.
In his first match as Head Coach, Mario Ledesma has made history. Included in the side is a full-time English-based professional. In his first cap in three years Juan Figallo starts at Tighthead prop, seeing Jaguares starter Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro moving to Loosehead prop.
Agustín Creevy captains the side in Ledesma’s position of hooker. He does so surrounded by close to the same pack of forwards which Ledesma used throughout Super Rugby. Pablo Matera, Javier Ortega Desio, and Marcos Kremer start in the back-row while Matías Alemanno and Guido Petti in the second-row. Alemanno over Tomás Lavanini is based on the latter having undergone eye surgery.
In the backs Gonzalo Bertranou joins Nicolás Sánchez in the halves. This sees Martín Landajo on the bench with Tomás Cubelli left out. In the centers Bautista Ezcurra and Matías Moroni start, doing so despite never having played together previously. Jaguares mid-fielders Jerónimo de la Fuente and Matías Orlando are injured.
The injury to Sebastían Cancelliere means the back-three selects itself. Emiliano Boffelli will play fullback with Ramiro Moyano and Bautista Delguy on the wings. Despite training at fly half Juan Cruz Mallía is the replacement outside back.
Delguy, and Ezcurra are to make their Rugby Championship debuts. Addition inexperience is present on the bench with Diego Fortuny, Santiago Medrano, and Mallía also being debutants in the competition.
There have been 26 prior test matches between South Africa and Argentina. There Springboks have 23 wins compared to Argentina’s 2. The teams also competed to a draw. A team named South America defeated the Springboks in 1982, that side was entirely Argentine.
The results overall are heavily in favor of South Africa. Though prior to the Rugby Championship the only result which was not a Pumas defeat was the 1982 match. In the 2012 Rugby Championship the teams competed to a 16-16 draw in Mendoza. While in 2015 and 2016 Argentina won in Durban and Salta.
South Africa enter the match as heavy favorites. Argentina have a new coach and have Juan Figallo as their only non-Jaguar for the match. Los Jaguares’ season in Super Rugby means the match ought to be competitive though South Africa are expected to win by 15 points.
TEAMS
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 (capt.), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse
ARGENTINA
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Juan Cruz Mallía
Date: Saturday August 18
Kick-off: 12:05pm (Argentina)
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zelaand)
Assistant Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
