South Africa will be looking for a win which would secure their first-ever Rugby Championship title when they take on Argentina on Saturday the 10th of August.
The curtain will come down on the 2019 Rugby Championship in dramatic fashion with the Springboks likely to need a win over Argentina to claim their first Rugby Championship title.
The South Africans have struggled for results in Argentina in recent year’s and went down 32-19 to Los Pumas when the two sides met in South America in 2018.
Argentina v South Africa
Saturday 10 August
Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena
21:40
To Win (80 Mins)
Argentina 22/10
Draw 22/1
South Africa 7/20
Handicap
Argentina (+6.5) 9/10
South Africa (-6.5) 9/10
Argentina
Los Pumas have underperformed somewhat in this Rugby Championship. They had a very handy draw with home games against both South Africa and New Zealand, while their only away fixture was against an Australian side who have more of an identity crisis than Bruce Jenner did. A lot was expected of them, and while they did front up to New Zealand rather well – they went down 16-20 – they failed to spark against Australia and ended up going down 16-10 in one of the dullest games the Championship has ever witnessed.
Coach Mario Ledesma will be a sightly worried man after his sides last two games. The Argentine scrum has been horrific – remember, this is an area that the Pumas used to pride themselves on – while the return of the countries leading points scorer Nicolas Sanchez has seen a massive drop in for from the two Jaguares centres who were lethal during Super Rugby. Needless to say, Ledesma has his work cut out for him headed into this one.
South Africa
History beckons for the Springboks who have a shot at claiming their maiden Rugby Championship title this weekend. The ‘Boks last won the Southern Hemisphere’s premier tournament back in 2009 to when it still went under the moniker of the Tri-Nations. It’s been a long wait for Springbok fans who have had to endure watching New Zealand lift the title on multiple occasions and even an Australian win back in 2015.
The ‘Boks have been stellar in this year’s tournament backing up a big 35-17 home win over Australian with a snatch and grab draw against New Zealand in Wellington. Both games saw moments of magic from South Africa’s new ‘golden boy’ Herschel Janjties who has scored three tries in less than a game and a halfs worth of international rugby.
While Janjtieshas been an absolute revelation, the Western Province scrumhalf is unlikely to get a start here as the news coming out of the Springbok camp is that Rassie Erasmus will name a very similar starting XV to the won that took to the Westpac Stadium n Round 2. The only real changes up for debate are in the front row where Erasmus may look to start Beast Mtawarira and Trevor Nyakane who did some sublime work off the bench against an All Black scrum who were starting to dominate scrum-time.
Verdict: South Africa (-6.5) 9/10
A lot could hinge on the outcome of the day’s other game. Should New Zealand win the game with a bonus point and put a big score over Australia then ‘Boks would need to claim a bonus-point win, which would probably see them taking a far more attacking mindset into the fixture.
I would be surprised if New Zealand didn’t claim a bonus-point win in the opener and that’s why I’ll be having a crack on the South African minus. The smart thing to do is to wait for the Australia versus New Zealand result and then have a crack on this minus once Steve Hansen’s men have buried their opponents at the Perth Oval.
