By Lucky Vince Pienaar
The front row that will line up against Argentina on Saturday has more individual muscle than just about any Springbok team ever. It’s going to be a long day for the Argentinians facing up to Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, and Thomas du Toit in the scrums.
It may have been a deliberate decision by Rassie Erasmus to pick three of the hardest men in rugby for the front row. They will more than makeup for the lack of experience of Ruan Nortje, who has only four caps, and Salmaan Moerat, who, with nine caps, is still an inexperienced captain.
By the time the bench comes on, the game will change again. Imagine the tired legs that have to stand up to Eben Etzebeth and Elrigh Louw after 50 minutes of hard rugby!
Just about all of the loose forwards are interchangeable, but the table is set for Kwagga Smith to rampage freely when he comes on.
Given the forwards’ platform, Cobus Reinach, Handré Pollard, and Lukhanyo Am should have a pretty open field. They have 148 caps between them and are among the best in the world, but it will be interesting to see if they have the initiative to play less-than-predictable rugby.
If it’s speed and inventive rugby you’re after, Aphelele Fassi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, and Makazole Mapimpi will provide the wheels down the sidelines that rugby fans all over the world are waiting to see.
Argentina’s team has not been announced yet, but sometimes it looks like Los Pumas don’t know which team will pitch up on the day.
The team that destroyed Australia two weeks ago was nothing short of awesome, but can they bring that level of performance to the field again?
And it’s a safe bet that the Springboks will not collapse the way the Wallabies did.
It’s a game worth staying up for.
Argentina v South Africa, Unico de Santiago del Estero, Saturday 21 September, 11pm.
Springbok squad:
Forwards: Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit, Salmaan Moerat (c), Ruan Nortje, Marco van Staden, Ben-Jason Dixon, Jasper Wiese.
Backs: Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Makazole Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi.
Bench:
Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Jaden Hendrikse, Manie Libbok.
Pictured above: The Springboks.
Source: Springboks/X
