2024 Rugby Championship – Argentina vs South Africa – ARN Guide

Argentina host South Africa in Santiago del Estero on Saturday. The battle is a top of the table clash in the 2024 Rugby Championship. It is the first of two fixtures between the teams; game two will be in Nelspruit, South Africa in the final round on September 28. Aside from World Cup years, the teams meet twice annually in the Rugby Championship. Los Pumas last defeated the Springboks in 2018.

 

FORM GUIDE

Current World Ranking: 7 (82.49 points)
2024-09-07 – Argentina 67-27 Australia (Santa Fe, AR)
2024-08-31 – Argentina 19-20 Australia (La Plata, AR)
2024-08-17 – New Zealand 42-10 Argentina (Auckland, NZ)
2024-08-10 – New Zealand 30-38 Argentina (Wellington, NZ)
2024-07-20 – Uruguay 05-79 Argentina (Punta del Este, UY)
2024-07-13 – Argentina 33-25 France (Buenos Aires, AR)
2024-07-06 – Argentina 13-28 France (Mendoza, AR)

Current World Ranking: 1 (93.58 points)
2024-09-07 – South Africa 18-12 New Zealand (Cape Town, ZA)
2024-08-31 – South Africa 31-27 New Zealand (Johannesburg, ZA)
2024-08-17 – Australia 12-30 South Africa (Perth, AU)
2024-08-10 – Australia 07-33 South Africa (Brisbane, AU)
2024-07-20 – South Africa 64-21 Portugal (Bloemfontein, ZA)
2024-07-13 – South Africa 24-25 Ireland (Durban, ZA)
2024-07-06 – South Africa 27-20 Ireland (Pretoria, ZA)
2024-06-23 – South Africa 41-13 Wales (London, GB-ENG)

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

4 Franco Molina replaces Guido Petti
5 Pedro Rubiolo replaces Tomás Lavanini
8 Joaquín Oviedo replaces Juan Martín González

2 Malcolm Marx replaces Bongi Mbonambi
3 Thomas du Toit replaces Frans Malherbe
4 Salmaan Moerat replaces Eben Etzebeth
6 Marco van Staden replaces Siya Kolisi
7 Ben Jason-Dixon replaces Pieter-Steph du Toit
9 Cobus Reinach replaces Grant Williams
11 Makazole Mapimpi replaces Cheslin Kolbe
12 Lukhanyo Am replaces Damian de Allende
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse replaces Canan Moodie
15 Aphelele Fassi replaces Willie le Roux

 

MOST CAPS

–  P Matera (105); J Montoya (100); M Moroni (84); G Petti (84); M Kremer (71); G Bertranou (64)

– E Etzebeth (126); J Kriel (75); H Pollard (75); M Marx (71); V Koch (56)

 

LEAST CAPS

– P Delgado (uncapped); I Calles (3); G García (6); F Molina (7); J Oviedo (8); T Albornoz (12)

– JH Wessels (2); BJ Dixon (4); R Nortje (4); G Steenekamp (6); A Fassi (7); E Louw (8)

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Eduardo Bello (TH); Facundo Isa (N8); Emiliano Boffelli (WI)

– Bongi Mbonambi (HK); Frans Malherbe (TH); Pieter-Steph du Toit (FL); Damian de Allende (CE), Cheslin Kolbe (WI); Willie le Roux (FB)

NOTES

• South Africa is on an 8 match winning streak against Argentina. Los Pumas most recent win was in Mendoza in 2018. Bautista Delguy scored 2 tries in the 32-19 win.
• A South African victory will mean the country’s first Rugby Championship title since 2019.
• Both teams have beaten all of their opponents thus far in 2024.
• It is a new venue for South Africa. Argentina won in Santiago del Estero vs Scotland in 2022.
• Prior Pumas vs Springboks Rugby Championship matches in Argentina have been in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Salta.
• Pedro Delgado will debut for Argentina as a replacement. He played Super Rugby Americas 2024. Delgado is a local player from Old Lions and the 5th Puma from Santiago del Estero. The others are Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Tomás Lezana, Facundo Isa and Bautista Pedemonte.
• Santiago Carreras will earn his 50th cap when he enters from the replacement bench.
• Rassie Erasmus has made 10 changes from the 18-12 win over New Zealand in Cape Town. The five retained starters are Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Jasper Wiese, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel.
• The bomb-squad returns; Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Elrigh Louw, and Kwagga Smith are all replacement Springbok forwards.
• Eben Etzebeth will equal Victor Matfield’s Spingboks record of 127 caps. Former fullback Percy Montgomery was the first Springbok to 100 caps.
• Salmaan Moerat captains his country in place of Siya Kolisi who will not play. Kolisi suffered a nasal bone fracture against New Zealand in Johannesburg.
• Los Pumas have scored 15 tries thus far in the tournament compared to 14 by South Africa.
• Malcolm Marx and Juan Cruz Mallía have both scored 3 tries in the tournament.
• Juan Cruz Mallía leads the tournament with 244 meters made. He has the most offloads with 5.
• Ruan Nortje has the most lineout wins with 24.
• The Springboks have conceded 6 yellow cards thus far in the tournament. Argentina zero.
• Christophe Ridley makes his Rugby Championship officiating debut. He is one of four English referees in the 2024 tournament. English referees account for 25% of the appointments. No Americas referee has ever refereed a Rugby Championship match.

PREDICTION

Hot early evening conditions await Los Pumas and the Springboks. The conditions are to be relatively similar to those from Argentina’s record-breaking win over Australia in Santa Fe. Free-flowing running rugby was regular in Santa Fe and the conditions will allow for the same in Santiago del Estero. On the one hand, Argentina have played better in dry than wet conditions in the 2024 Rugby Championship. On the other hand, South Africa have been consistently strong, in the collision areas, regardless of the conditions. ARN projects a South African victory.

 

LINE-UPS

ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera (vice-capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía (vice-capt.)

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Martín González, 21 Gonzalo García, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matías Moroni

SOUTH AFRICA
1 Ox Nche, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Salmaan Moerat (capt.), 5 Ruan Nortje, 6 Marco van Staden, 7 Ben Jason-Dixon, 8 Jasper Wiese, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Handre Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 15 Aphelele Fassi

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Mannie Libbok

 

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, September 21
Kickoff: 6pm (Argentina); 11pm (South Africa)
Venue: Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero (AR)
Broadcasts: ESPN, Disney + (Argentina)
Weather Forecast: Clear Skies and Hot, 34°C, wind 14 km/h

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Matt Carley (England); Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

 

HISTORY vs (1993-2023)

Aug 05, 2023 – Argentina 13-24 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Jul 29, 2023 – South Africa 22-21 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Sep 24, 2022 – South Africa 38-21 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Sep 17, 2022 – Argentina 20-36 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 21, 2021 – South Africa 29-10 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Aug 14, 2021 – South Africa 32-12 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Aug 17, 2019 – South Africa 24-18 Argentina (Pretoria, ZA)
Aug 10, 2019 – Argentina 13-46 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 25, 2018 – Argentina 32-19 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 18, 2018 – South Africa 34-21 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Aug 26, 2017 – Argentina 23-41 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 19, 2017 – South Africa 37-15 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, AR)
Aug 27, 2016 – Argentina 26-24 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Oct 20, 2016 – South Africa 30-23 Argentina (Nelspruit, ZA)
Oct 30, 2015 – South Africa 24-14 Argentina (London, UK)
Aug 15, 2015 – Argentina 12-26 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 08, 2015 – South Africa 25-37 Argentina (Durban, ZA)
Aug 23, 2014 – Argentina 31-33 South Africa (Salta, AR)
Aug 16, 2014 – South Africa 13-06 Argentina (Pretoria, ZA)
Aug 24, 2013 – Argentina 17-22 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 17, 2013 – South Africa 73-13 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Aug 25, 2012 – Argentina 16-16 South Africa (Mendoza, AR)
Aug 18, 2012 – South Africa 27-06 Argentina (Cape Town, ZA)
Aug 19, 2008 – South Africa 63-09 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Oct 14, 2007 – South Africa 37-13 Argentina (Paris, FR)
Nov 05, 2005 – Argentina 23-34 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Dec 04, 2004 – Argentina 07-39 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
June 28, 2003 – South Africa 26-25 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
June 29, 2002 – South Africa 49-29 Argentina (Springs, ZA)
Dec 12, 2000 – Argentina 33-37 South Afica (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 16, 1996 – Argentina 21-44 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 09, 1996 – Argentina 15-46 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Oct 15, 1994 – South Africa 46-26 Argentina (Johannesburg, ZA)
Oct 08, 1994 – South Africa 42-22 Argentina (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
Nov 13, 1993 – Argentina 23-52 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)
Nov 06, 1993 – Argentina 26-29 South Africa (Buenos Aires, AR)

 

HEAD TO HEAD vs

South Africa Wins 32
Argentina Wins 3
Draws 1