Preview: South Africa v Argentina
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:21
Good luck boys: A Springbok fan in Soweto
Perhaps the greatest picture ever of South African rugby was taken in 1995. In it François Pienaar holds the World Cup and gazes at Nelson Mandela and Nelson Mandela has only glee on his face, fists pumping high in delight, wearing a Springbok cap, both president and captain wearing a Springbok jersey with No.6 on the back. It was a picture filled with joy and hope.
Nelson Mandela will be back at the same ground on Saturday as "his boys" celebrate his 90th birthday and with them will be the Pumas of Argentina who made history on this ground 43 years ago. They have never beaten the Springboks anywhere. Will this be their chance to make history?
In 1965 they made history when for the first time they toured abroad and were called Pumas for the first time. Their 'test' was at Ellis Park against the Junior Springboks, and the Pumas won. Joy unbounded.
It may now be Coca-Cola Park but imagine the new celebration that will occur at this great party venue. The last time the two teams met was in grand Stade de France last year. The Springboks won, but for the Pumas there was still a reason to celebrate. After all they had been in the semifinal of the World Cup for the very first time and would go on to beat France again and end the tournament in third place. That was not even the stuff of dreams in 1965.
The Pumas have been close, never more so than in 2003 in Port Elizabeth when the Pumas scored three tries to two and were leading 25-16 with three minutes to play and lost 26-25 as Brent Russell scored a try and Louis Koen kicked a penalty goal and a last-minute conversion.
Of the players who played that day, Victor Matfield, José María Núñez Piossek, Felipe Contepomi, Patricio Albacete and Mario Ledesma will be playing again. The new Puma coach, Santiago Phelan, came on as a replacement that day. He was on the field when the Springboks scored those hurtful - for the Pumas - 10 points.
The last time the teams met was in the semifinal of the World Cup and the Springboks, tails up, won by four tries to one. None of the try-scorers will be starting this time though Fourie du Preez is likely to rise from the bench. Neither team has its captain as Agustín Pichot has retired and John Smit is injured - two leaders of men who are likely to be missed.
In fact both teams are much changed from then. Ten Springboks (three on the bench this time) and eight Pumas will again be in action - 14 out of 44. The result in Paris is not likely to have too much bearing on the outcome in Johannesburg.
The initial contest could well be up front - two physical packs slamming into each other. A look at the two packs suggests that the Springboks will be able to give as good as they get in the slamming department but have a loose trio of greater subtlety in Juan Smith, who still has not regained his magnificent World Cup form, athletic Pierre Spies and Luke Watson who may just have his best chance ever of shining as a fetcher. Greater subtlety may well be so important with the change to the laws.
The Springboks may have an edge when it comes to the laws as they have played the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) of which the Pumas (and the referee) will have had limited experience.
Beyond the pack the Springboks seem to have the greater ability to score tries, especially as the Pumas are without Ignacio Corleto and Juan Martín Hernández, though they still have the wily Dublin doctor Felipe Contepomi.
Players to Watch: Of the South Africans lots of eyes, some sceptic, will be on Jongi Nokwe who has been having a great season with the Cheetahs, a player of great speed who can finish. And then people see Tendai Mtawarira. Now the whole nation growls 'Beast' when he gets the ball. When last has a player so quickly become a national personality? The two most obvious personalities in the Argentinian side are flyhalf Felipe Contepomi, who is one of the most skilful players in the world, and Mario Ledesma, who looks like somebody from the local fish shop and is perhaps the best hooker in the world with a remarkable repertoire of skills beyond the basics of being a hooker.
Head to Head: There will be the subtlety of Felipe Contepomi and the direct approach of Butch James, but James will have to improve on his ricochet defence if the Pumas are not going to cause havoc.
Previous Results
The two teams first met in 1993 when the Pumas came back strongly in the second half and only a missed penalty by Santiago Mason deprived them of a draw.
2007: South Africa won 37-13 at Stade de France, Paris
2005: South Africa won 34-23 at Estadio Velez Sarsfield , Buenos Aires
2004: South
Africa won 39-7 at Estadio Velez Sarsfield , Buenos Aires
2003: South Africa won 26-25 at Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
2002: South Africa won 49-29 at PAM Brink Stadium, Springs
2000: South Africa won 37-33 at River Plate, Buenos Aires
1996: South Africa won 44-21 at Estadio Ferrocarril Oeste, Buenos Aires
1996: South Africa won 46-15 at Estadio Ferrocarril Oeste, Buenos Aires
1994: South Africa won 46-26 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
1994: South Africa won 42-22 at Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
1993: South Africa won 52-23 at Estadio Ferrocarril Oeste, Buenos Aires
1993: South Africa won 29-26 at Estadio Ferrocarril Oeste, Buenos Aires
Prediction: South Africa by more than 15.
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Butch James, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith,
6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.
Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 José María Núñez Piossek, 13 Federico Martín Aramburu, 12 Miguel Avramovic, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain) , 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 3 Pedro Ledesma, 2 Mario Ledesma , 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Álvaro Galindo, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Benjamín Urdapilleta, 22 Rafael Carballo
Date: Saturday, August
9
Venue: Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England
Touch judges: Matt Goddard (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
By Paul Dobson
