The Springboks will face Argentina in a one-off Test in Buenos Aires on Saturday, 8 August, with kick-off scheduled for 21:00 South Africa time.
South Africa travelled to Argentina on Saturday as preparations began for their next international, which comes after a perfect start to the Test season. The Springboks have won their opening three matches and will now take on an unpredictable Argentina side before beginning a four-Test series against New Zealand.
The match carries significance beyond the result, with several players returning from injury and others seeking valuable international experience. South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has also used the fixture to manage the workload of players who have already played extensively this year.
“We tried to get the balance right between giving some guys who are returning from injury and who have not had too much game time in our last four matches a valuable run against Argentina, while at the same time managing the players who have played a lot of rugby this year,” said coach Rassie Erasmus.
A number of regular players will be handled carefully, while Ox Nche and Franco Mostert remain on the road to full recovery. The Springboks are also due to hold a training camp next week, which will give those players further opportunities to build fitness and continue their rehabilitation.
“Several players have been performing for us week in and week out, so it was important that we manage their workload, while players such as Ox (Nche) and Franco (Mostert) are still on the road to recovery, so next week’s training camp will be useful for them to continue to put in the hard yards and for the injured players to continue their rehabilitation.”
Erasmus is expected to confirm his official squad for the Test series against New Zealand after South Africa return from Argentina.
The coach said the game would provide an indication of which players are ready for the challenge against the All Blacks, although he stressed that the fixture had not been arranged solely as preparation for that series.
“Argentina are a quality team, and you’ll quickly see who is ready to play against New Zealand two weeks later,” the Springbok coach added. “That said, this match wasn’t planned with that reason in mind – it was always about honouring our relationship with Argentina.”
The Springboks’ forwards squad for the Argentina Test includes Lood de Jager, Ben-Jason Dixon, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Grobbelaar, Cameron Hanekom, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Wilco Louw, Zachary Porthen, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Boan Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Cobus Wiese.
The backs selected are Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Quan Horn, Herchel Jantjies, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg and Edwill van der Merwe.
South Africa’s meeting with Argentina is therefore set for a 21:00 SA-time start on 8 August, with the result likely to influence selection discussions before the Springboks turn their attention to New Zealand.
