Los Pumas face 'Meneer'

22 August 2014 - 02:25 By Khanyiso Tshwaku in Buenos Aires
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Gurthro Steenkamp scores one of the Springboks' six tries against Fiji yesterday
Gurthro Steenkamp scores one of the Springboks' six tries against Fiji yesterday
Image: REUTERS

The majority of Argentina's national rugby team has been mixed into the melting pot that is the Top 14 rugby union club competition in France.

So, it makes sense that Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer would use the experience of Juan Smith and Gurthro Steenkamp - who have both played in the Top 14 for Toulon and Toulouse respectively - to counter Argentina when the two sides clash in Salta, Argentina, tomorrow.

A greenish Springbok pack will lean on the pair's experience, as the bulk of the Springbok side are rookies.

In fact, if one subtracts the 110 caps earned by Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis , the rest of the starting pack only has 79 caps between them.

But the bench is packed with veterans like Bakkies Botha, Adriaan Strauss and Tendai Mtawarira.

In contrast, Argentina's pack boasts 225 caps.

Argentina made only one change to their starting line-up - with Juan Martin Hernandez coming back after being a late injury withdrawal last week.

South Africa's foreign legion, especially the comeback kid Smith, will have a lot to prove with the World Cup around the corner.

Smith, who won the domestic and European double with Toulon, last played in a Springbok Test on November 27 2010 when the Boks, under Peter de Villiers, beat an overconfident and inadequate England team 21-11.

Yet even that margin of victory did not do justice to South Africa's dominance.

Meyer affectionately refers to Smith as the "Meneer".

It is a title that Smith has thoroughly earned through his physicality, his endurance and his understanding of the game.

He was one of the key components of the 2007 World Cup-winning team.

Argentina's back row will consist of Pablo Matera, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, with the former announcing himself as a serious ball spoiler in last year's Test in Mendoza.

Smith said he is looking forward to neutralising his Toulon teammate Lobbe, Argentina's best forward.

"I know the kind of experience [Lobbe] brings to the Argentine line-out and that was visible last week," Smith said.

"On the field we will be enemies and off the field we will be friends again."

Steenkamp is all too aware of Argentina's scrumming prowess and is acutely aware of the challenge ahead - especially with a new lock pairing that has only 28 Test caps in Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth. But Argentina's pairing of Mariano Galarza and Tomas Lavanini is not much more experienced, with only one more cap.

"We know a lot of the players who ply their trade in France and they do very well for their clubs, so they will definitely be bringing some experience," Steenkamp said.

"But Juan and I will be bringing our own experience."

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