No ‘grey areas’ for Boks against Argentina
Image: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
There will be no grey areas for uncompromising Springbok hardman and skipper Eben Etzebeth when he leads the charge to subdue Argentina at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
That was coach Allister Coetzee’s assessment of Boks’ mood as they bid to start their Rugby Championship campaign with a morale-boosting win against the innovative Pumas.
“We have built our philosophy around clarity and simplicity‚ with everything being very black and white‚ and Eben is that kind of leader‚” Coetzee said.
“The execution will come because everything is clearcut and Eben suits the team DNA very well‚ both on and off the field.
"Of course he will have to manage the referee well‚ but he has leaders alongside him as part of the group who will help him.”
The clash will be watched by a full house 46 000 crowd‚ who will be hoping their team can extend their four match unbeaten streak at the stadium alive.
“The Argentineans love ball in hand so our defence will be tested‚ especially when it comes to broken play.
"That is where they at their most dangerous and they will try to snipe and try to play inside ball‚” Coetzee said.
“But we have done a lot of preparation on them‚ so hopefully we can execute this weekend. This is a different challenge altogether.
“The breakdown is going to be very hard. They try to slow your ball down or turn it over because they love broken field situations and to try and score tries from that.
“We were not challenged a lot during the French series with regards to our kicking and our aerial skills. We will certainly be challenged here. They have world class players in their team‚” Coetzee said.
Teams:
South Africa (15-1): Andries Coetzee; Raymond Rhule‚ Jesse Kriel‚ Jan Serfontein‚ Courtnall Skosan; Elton Jantjies‚ Ross Cronje; Uzair Cassiem‚ Jaco Kriel‚ Siya Kolisi; Franco Mostert‚ Eben Etzebeth (capt); Coenie Oosthuizen‚ Malcolm Marx‚ Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi‚ Steven Kitshoff‚ Trevor Nyakane‚ Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ Jean-Luc du Preez‚ Francois Hougaard‚ Curwin Bosch‚ Damian de Allende
Argentina (15-1): Joaquin Tuculet; Ramiro Moyano‚ Matias Orlando‚ Jeronimo de la Fuente‚ Emiliano Boffelli; Nicolas Sanchez‚ Martin Landajo; Leonardo Senatore‚ Tomas Lezana‚ Pablo Matera; Tomas Lavanini‚ Guido Petti; Enrique Pieretto‚ Agustin Creevy (capt)‚ Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: Julian Montoya‚ Lucas Noguera‚ Ramiro Herrera‚ Marcos Kremer‚ Javier Ortega Desio‚ Tomas Cubelli‚ Juan Martin Hernandez‚ Matias Moroni
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
- TimesLIVE