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South Africa host Argentina on Saturday. The match is a round two fixture in the 2021 Rugby Championship. The Springboks will play at home for the sixth and final time this year. Both teams will be eager for competition points before traveling east to continue the Rugby Championship in Oceania.
Such is the strength of South Africa in 2021 that Jacques Nienaber has the luxury of player rotation. He has made 11 changes from the side that won 32-12 last weekend. The second-row demonstrates the options with Lood de Jager earning his 50th cap and Marvin Orie set to start for South Africa for the first time.
de Jager is one of four players retained from last weekend. The others are scrum-half Cobus Reinach, N8 Jasper Wiese and flanker and captain Siya Kolisi. The skipper’s 55 caps are second only to the 65 of fullback Willie Le Roux.
Mario Ledesma has sent a message to his players: perform or face the consequences. He has made six changes with big names out of the starting line-up; indeed, Bautista Delguy, Marcos Kremer, and Nicolás Sánchez are out of the XV. Matías Moroni and Facundo Isa also miss out; albeit, though injury.
Olympic Bronze Medalist, Ignacio Mendy will make his test debut. He and Santiago Carreras will be the wings in place of Moroni and Delguy. This also enables Juan Cruz Mallía to return from suspension to play fullback. They are notable selections; yet, big calls have been made across the board. Gonzalo Bertranou and Domingo Miotti both start as do Tomás Lavanini and Matías Alemanno while Juan Martín González and Lucio Cinti are preferred as replacements to European-based talent.
The front-row battle reads as a crucial contest. Six massive frames will collide with Trevor Nyakane, Malcolm Marx, and Thomas du Toit playing opposite Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Julián Montoya, and Francisco Gómez Kodela. They will have added weight behind them as both coaches have named a second-rower to start at flanker.
South Africa’s win last weekend gives them a 27-1-3 record. This demonstrates that the Springboks overall record against Los Pumas is excellent. The Springboks were unbeaten against Argentina until 2015. There have been eleven test matches between the sides since then. South Africa has won nine of them and Argentina two.
2021 has seen South Africa underlining their no1 world ranking. The Springboks completed a series win over the British & Irish Lions are were demonstrably superior to Argentina last weekend. The weakened side was not a factor last weekend; as such, Argentina must play with greater accuracy and win the battle from one tackle to the next. Los Pumas need tobeat them at their own game; they need to outmuscle the Springboks and win the collisions.
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Marvin Orie, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Franco Mostert, 8 Jasper Wiese, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Handré Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpo, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Willie Le Roux
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Nicolas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Dan du Preez, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Damian Willemse
ARGENTINA
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Guido Petti, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Domingo Miotti, 11 Santiago Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Santiago Chocobares, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Martín González, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Lucio Cinti
Date: Saturday, August 21
Kick-Off: 5:05pm (Local); 12:05pm (Argentina)
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa); AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
Historical Results
2021/08/14 South Africa 32, Argentina 12 (Port Elizabeth)
2019/08/17 South Africa 24, Argentina 18 (Pretoria)
2019/08/10 Argentina 13, South Africa 46 (Salta)
2018/08/25 Argentina 32, South Africa 19 (Mendoza)
2018/08/18 South Africa 34, Argentina 21 (Durban)
2017/08/26 Argentina 23, South Africa 41 (Salta)
2017/08/19 South Africa 37, Argentina 15 (Port Elizabeth)
2016/08/27 Argentina 26, South Africa 24 (Salta)
2016/08/20 South Africa 30, Argentina 23 (Nelspruit)
2015/10/30 South Africa 24, Argentina 14 (London)
2015/08/15 Argentina 12, South Africa 26 (Buenos Aires)
2015/08/08 South Africa 25, Argentina 37 (Durban)
2014/08/23 Argentina 31, South Africa 33 (Salta)
2014/08/16 South Africa 13, Argentina 06 (Pretoria)
2013/08/24 Argentina 17, South Africa 22 (Mendoza)
2013/08/17 South Africa 73, Argentina 13 (Johannesburg)
2012/08/25 Argentina 16, South Africa 16 (Mendoza)
2012/08/18 South Africa 27, Argentina 06 (Cape Town)
2008/08/09 South Africa 63, Argentina 09 (Johannesburg)
2007/10/14 South Africa 37, Argentina 13 (Paris)
2005/11/05 Argentina 23, South Africa 34 (Buenos Aires)
2004/12/04 Argentina 07, South Africa 39 (Buenos Aires)
2003/06/28 South Africa 26, Argentina 25 (Port Elizabeth)
2002/06/29 South Africa 49, Argentina 29 (Springs)
2000/12/29 Argentina 33, South Afica 37 (Buenos Aires)
1996/11/16 Argentina 21, South Africa 44 (Buenos Aires)
1996/11/09 Argentina 15, South Africa 46 (Buenos Aires)
1994/10/15 South Africa 46, Argentina 26 (Johannesburg)
1994/10/08 South Africa 42, Argentina 22 (Port Elizabeth)
1993/11/13 Argentina 23, South Africa 52 (Buenos Aires)
1993/11/06 Argentina 26, South Africa 29 (Buenos Aires)
OVERALL RESULTS
South Africa Wins 27
Argentina Wins 3
Draws 1
