The Springboks meet Argentina in a one-off Test at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires on Saturday night, with a number of key players returning to the starting line-up ahead of South Africa’s four-Test series against the All Blacks.
Kick-off is at 21:00 South African time, with the match being broadcast live on SuperSport.
Although the Springboks have repeatedly stressed that Argentina is their only concern this week, the contest will also provide important context before their upcoming series against New Zealand.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is among the players returning from injury and starts alongside seasoned Springboks including captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Morne van den Berg.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu said his time away from the team had been frustrating, but that he had used the absence to improve his understanding of the game.
“Not being able to help my team was frustrating, and the Springbok equation was even worse,” he said.
“But I used the time to look at the game from a more technical aspect, and develop in the areas that I probably didn’t have time to work on before. Obviously, it was disastrous when it happened and it wasn’t enjoyable, but I made the most of the time off.”
South Africa’s backline includes Aphelele Fassi at full-back, with Edwill van der Merwe, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker also starting. Feinberg-Mngomezulu is named at fly-half, with Cobus Reinach at scrum-half.
Cameron Hanekom starts at number eight, while Elrigh Louw and Kolisi complete the loose-forward trio. Etzebeth and de Jager are paired in the second row, with Thomas du Toit, Johan Grobbelaar and Boan Venter forming the front row.
South Africa’s replacements are Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Cobus Wiese, Marco van Staden, Morne van den Berg and Handre Pollard.
Argentina name Geronimo Prisciantelli at full-back, with Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Faustino Sanchez Valarolo and Ignacio Mendy in the rest of the backline. Santiago Carreras starts at fly-half and Simon Benitez Cruz at scrum-half.
Joaquin Moro, Benjamin Grondona and captain Pablo Matera make up the loose forwards. Tomas Lavanini and Guido Petti are selected in the second row, while Francisco Moreno, Ignacio Ruiz and Boris Wenger start in the front row.
Argentina’s bench consists of Leonel Oviedo, Mayco Vivas, Tomas Rapetti, Ephraim Elijah, Juan Penoucos, Juan Martin Scelzo, Agustin Moyano and Matias Moroni.
The Springboks have a strong historical record against Argentina. From 40 previous meetings, South Africa have won 35, lost four and drawn one.
South Africa have scored 1,411 points against Argentina and conceded 784, while their record includes 167 tries scored and 76 conceded. Their highest score in the fixture is 73-13, while their biggest winning margin is 60 points. The Springboks’ win percentage against Argentina stands at 87.5%.
The match marks a return to Buenos Aires for the latest chapter in a fixture South Africa have dominated, although Argentina will look to challenge that record on home soil.
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