Marching in Pretoria

BOK FOR THE CHALLENGE: Scarra Ntubeni, left, and skipper Siya Kolisi during the Springboks’ training session and fan engagement at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Tuesday, ahead of Saturday’s Test against Argentina

Scarra Ntubeni was included in the squad to face Argentina in their farewell Test match at the Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday in a bid to increase depth, Springbok forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot said.

Ntubeni‚ who has been impressive for Western Province in their Currie Cup campaign‚ is likely to make his debut on Saturday and Proudfoot said they wanted to have players on standby who would be fully prepared in case they were called during the World Cup.

“Going into a World Cup year‚ you need four hookers prepped in the system and it has always been part of our planning to create depth‚” Proudfoot said at their base in Pretoria on Tuesday.

“Our plan was not just to create a squad of 31 players who will be on the plane‚ but to have eight or nine more who will be prepared for any eventualities.

“With regards to scrumhalfs and hookers‚ we travel with three but you need one more ready to go and this is great for Scarra.

“Western Province have been doing really well in the Currie Cup.

“He [Ntubeni] is a guy I know very well and he is respected within the group.

“He has been on numerous Springbok training camps before and if he gets on to the field on Saturday it will be his Test debut.

“I am excited for him‚ he has struggled through a lot of calf injuries and it bodes well for his resilience to really fight through the tough times.”

Ntubeni will be joined by WP teammates Wilco Louw‚ Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and utility back Dillyn Leyds and fellow loose forward Marco van Staden from the Blue Bulls.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s match‚ Proudfoot said he was satisfied with the execution of the lineouts against Argentina in Salta last weekend and expected more of the same in their last match before they departed for the World Cup.

“These guys play Super Rugby against each other every weekend and they understand the lineout formations‚” he said.

“It is almost like a game of chess on the field that your lineout call is playing with the opposition.

“For us against Argentina last weekend‚ we had a specific plan that we wanted to employ.

“We wanted to limit the amount of possible turnovers while striving for continuity in our set phase, because that will be crucial at the World Cup.”