Pumas eye historic triumph
DURBAN: Springbok coach Allister Coetzee and captain Adriaan Strauss need no reminding that their supply of “get-out-of-jail-free” cards is not inexhaustible. And tomorrow, in inhospitable Salta, there will literally and figuratively be no green grass of home for the South Africans.
In short, the Boks are going to have to gel sooner rather than later to win in the hot and dry north-west of Argentina where the ground is bonehard and the local fans scream themselves hoarse.
Salta is at altitude, nestling in the foothills of the Andes at 1 152m, although geographical elevation should not be a major issue for either side, even with Nelspruit – the venue for last week’s match between the two nations – coming in at 677m (Johannesburg is 1 753m).
The Boks have spent the week preparing at sea level in Buenos Aires and will travel to Salta today.
South Africa almost lost in Salta two years ago, when a last-minute Morne Steyn penalty inched them home 33-31. Perhaps it is no co-incidence that veteran Steyn has been recalled to sit on the bench for this one ...
Los Pumas will feel that they are closing in on a firstever home victory over the Boks. The Argentines have come ever so close in recent years, with a 16-16 draw in Mendoza in 2012 just eclipsing that near-win in Salta.
Argentina famously won in Durban last year and were a few minutes away from winning last week in Nelspruit, so they will fancy their chances tomorrow of another historic triumph. And rightly so, especially if the Boks deliver the same quality of performance as last Saturday.
While there is some sympathy for Coetzee in that he has had to hit the ground running this season with a new-look Bok squad, a new management team and unwilling opponents in Ireland and now Argentina, the bottom line is that his charges must be running short on good fortune.
To be truthful about the Boks’ four Tests under Coetzee, they have to be pleased with three wins from four when it could well have been zero from four had the rugby gods not smiled on them.
To give tomorrow’s Test its critical significance, it must be taken into account that the Boks’ next encounter is in Brisbane against the Wallabies.
The Australians will have targeted the fixture, and they could be utterly desperate after a probable six defeats in a row – starting with the World Cup final against the All Blacks last year, taking in three home losses to England, last week’s defeat to New Zealand in Sydney and a likely reverse in Wellington this weekend.
The Boks then travel from Brisbane to Christchurch to play the All Blacks.
It simply does not get any easier for the Boks as they journey through the Rugby
Championship, and you have to think that a win over Argentina this week is beyond vital,
It has been understandably difficult for South Africa to be world-beaters in an instant this season given the wholesale changes made in this post-World Cup year, but the reality is that they have to pull themselves together as a team rather than rely on the virtuosity of single players.
South Africa: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira. Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel. Argentina: TBA
Kickoff: 9.40pm (SA time).