The Pumas will be facing the Springboks with coach Rassie Erasmus having made ten changes to the team that faced the All Blacks in Cape Town. The Springboks will be captained by Salmaan Moerat. He will have an opportunity to captain the side since the last time he did so in Perth, where he faced the agony of suffering a concussion within the 1st 20 minutes of the encounter. History is likely to be made as Eben Etzebeth may come on from the bench to equal Victor Matfield’s Springboks record of 127 caps.
Pumas Record Against The Springboks
The Springboks enjoy an impressive record against the Pumas in Argentina having only tasted defeat twice in their 17 encounters hosted by the Pumas. With the Springboks needing to avoid defeat to seal the Rugby Championship, they will be fired up to achieve this historic feat. It will be a chance to win the Rugby Championship for the first time in its full double-round format. Since Argentina joined in 2012, and in that time the Boks have only won it once in 2019 when it was a single round due to the World Cup later that year. On the other hand, Argentina will be looking to spoil the party as they are facing the Springboks team missing the likes of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to injury, Siya Kolisi travelled with the team but is on standby, with Etzebeth relegated to the bench.
Is Etzebeth The Greatest Springboks Lock Of All Time?
Given the achievements and contributions to the Springboks by Etzebeth and he is on the verge of eclipsing the record of his predecessors, the debate has started as to who is the greatest Springboks lock of all time. Many names have been thrown in the GOAT Debate, notably Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha. However, many feel it’s unfair to compare players from different eras as Eben had the privilege of playing with Victor Matfield in his twilight years and he likely imparted a lot of wisdom to Eben’s game the fruits of which he is still enjoying to this day. So the pupil to be better than the teacher may be a tough one to take, this debate can go on forever maybe let’s just enjoy this moment as he gets to equal the record and is likely to break it in the return fixture in Mpumalanga.
TEAMS
Argentina
15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo
Substitutes: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matias Moroni
South Africa
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok
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