Boks have eyes on the prize
TOUGH: RASSIE WARNS PLAYERS OF THE ENORMOUS CHALLENGE IN SALTA
South Africa have not won Southern Hemisphere title in ten long years.
The Springboks will have to take the lessons they learned last year to heart if they want to reverse the result in their Rugby Championship decider against Argentina in Salta today, coach Rassie Erasmus has warned his players.
Erasmus predicted they would have to toil hard if they wanted to lift the Championship title and take that momentum into the World Cup.
“The bigger picture for us is that Argentina beat us comfortably in Mendoza last year after we
beat them the previous week in Durban,” Erasmus said.
“We came here and they gave us a good hiding – it was a 13-point margin (32-19) – so we know it’s going to be a tough match.
“If we want to win the Rugby Championship we have to get past them and we know what they did to us last year.”
Unbeaten in this year’s Championship campaign, the Boks were set to start their last fixture fully aware of what was required to secure the series crown, with the All Blacks and the Wallabies playing in an earlier match which would determine whether they needed a bonus point win against the Pumas or just a win.
The Boks last won the competition in Tri-Nations guise in 2009, which was their third title since it started in 1996.
“I remember my time as a player and it’s very different playing them in Argentina than at home,” Erasmus said.
“This is not the biggest stadium, but they seem to grow another leg and they are much tougher to play against.
“So it’s going to be a typical game where we have to grind out a victory, but I think the players are aware of that and have prepared that way.”
While Erasmus seemed to have settled on his first-choice combinations ahead of the World Cup, the new front row could stake a claim today, while the jury was still out on whether Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am were the squad’s best midfield combination.
“Winning creates some nice self-belief and momentum,” Erasmus said.
“When you win you get a little bit more belief and when you lose you concede a bit of that belief, so I guess winning the Championship will give us a lot of belief.”
Kick-off: 10.40pm.