‘Let’s give it horns against the Jaguares’
Loosie Burger says nothing can prepare players for ‘hostile’ Buenos Aires
SCHALK BURGER has represented South Africa in five matches against Argentina, but the 86-Test Springbok veteran says that his rich travel tales will not adequately prime a young Stormers outfit for what they’ll experience when they head off to hunt the Jaguares at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday night (kick-off 11.40pm).
“It’s a hostile environment, and you can’t really prepare for that,” the 32-year-old Stormers loose forward said of the zealous crowd. “It’s one of those countries that we don’t travel to often. Not a lot of the players in this group have been there before.”
On Saturday the Stormers will become the second Super Rugby side to square up against Argentina’s addition to the competition at their home ground, after the Chiefs, who needed a late try to narrowly escape Buenos Aires with a 30-26 win last week.
“I watched that game,” added Burger. “There’s a lot of passion there, it’s a hostile environment to play in, and that will come through more and more. That match was the Jaguares’ first home game, they didn’t get the desired result, so they’re going to be desperate this weekend.”
The Stormers bounced back from a home loss against the Sharks to ambush the previously unbeaten Brumbies 31-11 at Newlands on Saturday. “The Brumbies are still the class act of the competition,” the iconic flank said of Australia’s top team.
Burger underplayed the impact that naive tactics had played in the loss against the Sharks and he was equally blasé about the implications of the savvy approach that halted the Brumbies.
“I don’t think we must read too much into the game,” he said. “In rugby you need some luck and some stuff to go your way and it went our way this weekend.
“It was hanging in the balance until the last 16 or so minutes. Games like that sit on a knife’s edge; against the Sharks, the game was sitting on a knife’s edge and it didn’t go our way, we lost it. I think we played reasonably well against the Brumbies; we were nice and patient for a young side, and we stuck to the plan, which was impressive.
“Some weeks, you play really well and don’t get the results, and I think that was the case against the Sharks. But we shouldn’t read too deep into all kinds of stats, but rather believe in the process.
“We had to switch a few things up for the Brumbies, and luckily it worked a treat. We had territory, which was nice for a change to put them under a lot of pressure. Maybe the end score flattered us a bit, but it was a great performance under a lot of pressure.
“You lose against the Sharks and, all of a sudden, your back’s against the wall... we had no option but to rebound.”
The Jaguares will be able to relate to that line of thinking – they haven’t won since edging the Cheetahs 34-33 in round one.
“They’re a good team with a lot of (Argentina) internationals, so we’ll face a similar challenge to the Brumbies, who had 10 or so Wallabies starting,” said Burger.
“The Jaguares’ style is a little bit different – there’s no ways they’ll stop; they’ll play for 80 minutes. Against the Chiefs, they looked down and out, and then they scored a magnificent try, probably the try of the season, to take a late lead.
“So it doesn’t get any easier for us, every week is a challenge. But we’ve got this one to go before a bye, so let’s give it horns.”