Five key areas the Boks need to master in Buenos Aires

These are the five key areas the Springboks best not lose sight of against Argentina on Saturday. Both teams need a win to stay in contention for the Rugby Championship title.

Discipline

Patience, but more importantly discipline, will be required to subdue Argentina on their home patch. Maintaining discipline holds obvious benefits. It denies the opposition field position and can ultimately be a source of huge frustration for the side making the most of the running. Moreover, the Boks staying on the right side of the law will limit the influence of Argentina's sharp-shooter kicker Emiliano Boffelli. He doesn't just have precision, but potency from long range. The less the Boks see of Boffelli the better.

Also, the visitors should really guard against time wasting.

Composure

While maintaining discipline the Boks will be well served to show composure throughout. They are likely to be drawn into confrontations that may bring the lottery of match officials into play. The last thing the Boks want is for matters to be taken out of their sphere of influence.

They will be harassed on the field and harangued off it by the partisan and frenzied crowd in the Estadio Libertadores de America. Los Pumas have rarely been in a position to win a Rugby Championship title, so the Boks can expect much gesticulation and downright abuse from the terraces. Cool heads from Siya Kolisi and the senior Boks will draw the sting from the occasion.

Variety

The Springboks will need variety in their attack. Argentina are particularly adept at executing leg tackles. These stunt momentum no matter how big the opponent and on the occasions where the Boks have failed to beat Los Pumas, the South Americans' ability to chop them at the knee or, better still, ankle, proved crucial.

The Boks thus will need variety in their forays and can't exclusively rely on their big men to give them gainline ascendancy. They will need some cunning and guile to get the job done.

In this regard, Damian Willemse and Damian de Allende have a huge role to play.

High ball

In Boffelli, Argentina possess one of the game's great high-ball exponents. Playing on the right wing this week, Boffelli is as dominant receiving a kick as he is charging onto it.

Though the Boks limited their use of the high ball in the victory over the Wallabies in Sydney, they will likely take to the Buenos Aires sky against Argentina. They will, however, have to make their kicks contestable and they will require a co-ordinated and determined chase line.

Failure to do so against Boffelli and fullback Juan Cruz Mallia could leave them exposed against opponents who have been increasingly ruthless at exploiting opponents' errors.

Bench

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber has owned up to the occasional folly from the coaches' box. He has even used the word naive. The Boks have at times been caught short on the selection and deployment of their bench, but Nienaber and co cannot afford to slip up on that front on Saturday.

Argentina, though they lost heavily to the All Blacks in their last outing, have been different beasts under their Aussie coach Michael Cheika. They have added staying power to their grunt and have found ways to stay in the contest. Unless the Boks can assert themselves early, they will have to dig in for the long haul. That will require all hands on deck, including a telling impact from their bench.