Rassie Erasmus has underlined that South Africa’s immediate priority is beating Argentina in Buenos Aires next weekend, even as the one-off Test doubles as a key step in preparations for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series against New Zealand.
The Springbok coach stressed that the fixture against Los Pumas is both a stand-alone objective and a crucial selection and fitness gauge ahead of the four-Test RGR campaign in August and September.
“First and foremost, we want to beat Argentina – just like every other team, we want to win every Test match we play,” said Erasmus. “Then there’s the bigger picture, the Rugby World Cup, which is close to a year away, but you also have to respect the team you play next week.”
One-off Test central to wider Springbok planning
The Springbok squad gathered in Johannesburg on Sunday and have already completed two training sessions. Players will be given Wednesday off for rest and recovery before concluding their on-field preparation for Argentina on Thursday.
After that, the group will separate. The touring squad for Buenos Aires – to be announced on Saturday – will depart for South America in two groups the same day. Those not travelling will return to the Springboks’ Johannesburg base to shift focus to the coming four-Test series against the All Blacks.
Erasmus made clear that the Argentina clash had always been scheduled on its own merits, but acknowledged its value in shaping his plans for New Zealand.
“Argentina are a quality team, and you’ll quickly see who is ready to play against New Zealand two weeks later,” he said. “That said, this match wasn’t planned with that reason in mind – it was always about honouring our relationship with Argentina, but yes, most of those guys will be involved.”
Injury update: two ruled out, others back in contention
With 10 players recently returning from injury lay-offs, Erasmus confirmed that only Ox Nche and Franco Mostert will be unavailable for selection in Buenos Aires because of longer-term problems.
“There are only two guys who won’t be available due to longer term injuries, and they are Ox Nche and Franco Mostert,” he explained. “Apart from them, everyone is ready to play.
“I wouldn’t say it is ideal (that they are all returning from injury now). We would have liked the guys not to be injured and to have been able to manage their time right from the start.
“The same applied to Andre (Esterhuizen), Eben (Etzebeth), Wilco (Louw) and Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu), but this game is a really good opportunity.”
The Argentina Test, against opponents the Springboks meet annually in the Rugby Championship and who are also involved in the Nations Championship, is expected to give Erasmus a clearer picture of which returning players are ready for the intensity of the All Blacks.
Balancing Springbok needs with franchise game time
Looking ahead to the RGR series, Erasmus said he is wary of holding players in the national squad if they are unlikely to feature against New Zealand, preferring in that case to let them turn out for their franchises.
“The big thing is we don’t want to keep a guy with us and not use him during the All Black series. That’s why we’re giving some guys the opportunity to play for their franchises,” he said.
“Taking players on tour without being able to give him a game for his franchise against the All Blacks would not be the right thing, but we also don’t want to release players if we’re not 100% sure we’re covered in those positions for the All Black Tests.
“So as far as we can release players without jeopardising squad depth, we’ll try to do so. We might also still release more players from the group if they don’t get enough game time in the Springbok Tests.”
All Blacks on horizon, but Erasmus refuses to look past Pumas
The announcement of the All Blacks’ touring squad has sharpened external focus on the upcoming RGR series, but Erasmus is determined his players and staff do not look beyond Argentina.
“I saw the squad was announced and had a brief look at it, but at this stage we’re all locked in for Argentina,” he said.
“There’ll be a group that stays behind and starts focusing on them, because we can only take a certain number of players to Argentina. But in all honesty, I haven’t studied it (their squad) enough.
“That said, it sounds like everybody’s really excited about the squad and the way they’ve played in the first three (Nations Championship) games, and we know it’s going to be tough, but Argentina is our first goal right now.”
Erasmus plans to confirm his official RGR squad only after the team returns from Buenos Aires, using the Argentina Test to finalise selection calls as the Springboks build towards both the All Blacks series and a Rugby World Cup now less than a year away.
