The Springboks have a shot at securing the Rugby Championship title on Saturday when they face Argentina in Santiago del Estero. Here’s everything you need to know.
Moerat to skipper as Springboks look to secure Rugby Championship title
The Springboks can claim their first Rugby Championship title since 2019 provided they win or draw against Argentina in Santiago del Estero on Saturday. That 2019 success comes with a caveat though – the tournament was shortened because it fell in a World Cup year.
You have to go all the way back to 2009 for the last time the Springboks won the competition outside of a World Cup year. Of course, it was the Tri-Nations back then, with Argentina only joining the competition in 2012.
The South Americans are the only other side still in with a sniff of lifting the trophy, although they’ll likely need to secure two bonus-point wins against the Boks. An unlikely scenario, but Felipe Contepomi’s side have shown they can mix it in the 2024 Rugby Championship.
They beat the All Blacks in Wellington and inflicted the Wallabies’ heaviest-ever Test defeat in Santa Fe, with a second-half blitz powering them to a 67-27 win. Worth noting as well that they were 17 points down at one point in that game. They’ll need to lock into that never-say-die if they are to beat the Boks.
Rassie Erasmus has left some of his heavy hitters in the Republic for this one. The likes of Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux and Pieter-Steph du Toit are among those missing.
The Bok mentor continues to build depth as he looks to complete a World Cup three-peat. Salmaan Moerat returns to skipper the side while Ben-Jason Dixon gets another shot after a disappointing outing against New Zealand in round three. Aphelele Fassi and Luuhanyo Am feature at inside centre and fullback respectively in a backline that also features the likes of Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Makazole Mampimpi, Jesse Kriel and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
The weekend special 🎶
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 17, 2024
Aphelele Fassi runs on to Mapimpi's perfect grubber to score for the Boks 🤩
📺 Stream #TRC2024 live: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/Jql0wNwVK3
How to watch?
It might be worth factoring in an afternoon nap on Saturday with this game set to kick off at 23:00. Just be sure to be up and about before 16:00 because you don’t want to miss the Currie Cup final between the Fidelity ADT Lions and the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
The build-up for the Test gets underway at 22:00 on SuperSport Grandstand (channel 201 on DStv) with the broadcast crossing over to Argentina at 22:50. Kick-off will follow at 23:00.
Betting odds
No surprises here. The Springboks are betting favourites to win with Hollywodbets setting the handicap line at 9.5 points. Take a look at the match betting and the handicap spread below.
To Win Match
Argentina 3/1 | Draw 25/1 | South Africa 1/4
Handicap
Argentina (+9.5) 9/10 | South Africa (-9.5) 9/10
Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades
This is a relatively new stadium, opened in March 2021. To date the ground has only hosted one Test match back in July 2022, with Argentina running out 34-31 winners against Scotland. The Scottish led that tie 28-13 at one point before Emiliano Boffelli scored in the corner to complete a memorable come-from-behind win.
Last meeting & head-to-heads
The last time these two sides met was in the build-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with the Boks running out 24-13 winners in Buenos Aires. In fact, the Springboks have won each of the last eight Test matches between the sides.
You have to go back to 2018 for the last time the South Americans beat South Africa. On that day Nicholas Sanchez pulled the strings beautifully as they ran out 32-19 winners, with the flyhalf scoring 24 points from the boot. Take a look at the recent head-to-heads below:
- 5 August 2023: SA won 24-13 in Buenos Aires
- 29 July 2023: SA won 22-21 in Johannesburg
- 24 September 2022: SA won 38-21 in Durban
- 17 September 2022: SA won 26-20 in Buenos Aires
- 21 August 2021: SA won 29-10 in Gqeberha
Teams
The Springboks still look the stronger of the two outfits despite the multitude of changes. Argentina will need to front up physically for an all-out assault from the South Africans as they look to secure the Rugby Championship title.
Argentina
15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cintiy, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquis Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17, Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, Gonzalo Garcia, 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,
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenkamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok
