Boks looking for bonus-point win away to Argentina

Springbok No 8 Jasper Wiese says they will be targeting an away bonus-point victory when they take on Argentina in a Rugby Championship clash at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

The tournament has reached the business end with two rounds of matches remaining and little in terms of points separating the four teams on the log standings.

They head into round five this week with the All Blacks at the top of the pile with 11 points but SA, Australia and Argentina still in with a chance to win the tournament as they are tied on nine points each.

To get the vital bonus point, the Boks must score three tries more than the Pumas and they will possibly have to repeat the same feat in the final match of the tournament in Durban.

“I think every team is playing for a bonus point at this stage of the tournament. First of all, you want to keep it in mind that you want to win the match but every team has the same mindset and it is important to try to get a bonus point.

“We simply just have to go out there, play our best rugby and make our country proud. If we play our best rugby, the bonus point will take care of it itself and that sums it up perfectly,” said Wiese. 

With the World Cup fast approaching, Wiese is battling for the number eight spot with veteran Duane Vermeulen and is learning a lot from the senior statesman.

“To have such an experienced player playing alongside you is amazing and to learn from him is a real privilege. As for competition for places, it is really tight and I don’t think anyone’s spot is guaranteed.

“It has been a massive privilege playing alongside everyone here in the team and especially Duane. He has years of experience and there is so much I can still learn from him, it is just a massive privilege for me being next to him in this environment.”

The Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires can be intimidating and Wiese knows better than most that they can’t be intimidated by what is expected to be a strong partisan crowd.

“It is the same when you play abroad, you always have to deal with the crowd, Argentina is a very proud country and they are a team that doesn’t go away, especially when they play at home.

“Even when they play away from home, they don’t go away. They are a very tough team and it’s something that you have to deal with when playing abroad: it is to deal with the crowd.

“It was a decision from management to get us here as soon as possible and adapt as soon as possible and get us into a mindset of still having a job to do.

“Training has been good, it’s a little bit warner than in Australia, the city is nice and everybody knows what we have to do.”

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