Boks ready for tough game against Pumas

19 August 2016 - 15:37 By Chumani Bambani

Argentine captain Agustin Creevy‚ playing in his 50th cap‚ will fuel the passionate Los Pumas for their clash against the Springboks‚ his opposite number Adriaan Strauss believes.The Argentineans are known to be an ardent and sentimental side. After all‚ it was a visit by the Los Pumas side from 1965 that fuelled them to victory against the Boks in the Rugby Championship match in Durban last year.Their captain‚ reaching the milestone of half a century of tests for the national team‚ could easily play a similar role when the two sides meet at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday (5pm) for their opening match of this year's Rugby Championship.“Creevy is playing his 50th‚ so that will definitely fuel them. It will make it a bit more personal for him‚” said Strauss‚ who will square up against the Argentina captain at hooker on Saturday.If Strauss was a superstitious man‚ he would be rattled by the fact that when he takes on Los Pumas this weekend he will be the 13th Bok captain to lead in the Rugby Championship. The hooker is not fazed.“I'm not superstitious at all. I actually never even thought of that‚” he said.What Strauss and his team have thought about is the last time they faced Argentina in South Africa they suffered a defeat. And that in previous encounters in Nelspruit – against Scotland and Wales – they found the going tough against the visiting teams.“The coach mentioned earlier this week that the results from the past won't help or affect us on the day – last year's game against Argentina or previous games played here at Mbombela‚” said Strauss.“We know they [Argentina] are going to play with a lot of confidence because of that and we do take that into consideration. But when you get onto the field to play a test match you always give it your all‚ always fully prepared.“We know very well what lies ahead tomorrow – it's going to be a very tough and physical game‚ as it always is against Argentina.” – TMG Digital..

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