Argentina v South Africa - Teams and Prediction
ROUND SIX PREVIEW: History is on the cards for South Africa if they win the Rugby Championship decider against Argentina at the Allianz Stadium in London on Saturday.
The Springboks have never won back-to-back Tri-Nations or Rugby Championship tournaments, and this could be their first-ever successful title defence.
And the ideal way to prepare for the upcoming end-of-year northern hemisphere tour.
Three wins in their last four outings suggest that the Springboks should see this one through, especially since they are traveling to London, where there is a massive South African fan base.
South Africa has won 10 of their last 11 Tests against Argentina, including their last two meetings in which they scored 115 combined points – more than they managed across the previous four games combined (112).
Argentina is completely out of the race for the Rugby Championship, but they can spoil the party for South Africa.
Argentina’s inconsistency is what let them down in this year’s edition of the Rugby Championship, as they won two and lost two in their four games against New Zealand and Australia earlier in the campaign.
Huge wins over New Zealand (43-10 in Wellington) and Argentina (67-30 in Durban) have put Rassie Erasmus’ side in the driving seat.
The Springboks top the Rugby Championship standings with 15 points from five games. The All Blacks are second with 14, with the Wallabies on 11 and Argentina out of the running with nine.
Since lifting the 2023 World Cup, South Africa have won 17 of 21 Tests – an 81% win rate, the highest among teams in either The Rugby Championship or Six Nations.
The match will be played several hours after Australia plays host to New Zealand in Perth. The winner of that match can still win the Rugby Championship.
This would require Argentina to defeat South Africa. On the flip side, Los Pumas cannot overtake South Africa, so they cannot finish higher than second.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus made four changes to the match-23, which will see the return of Ox Nche to the starting team, as well as Grant Williams, Jesse Kriel, and Bongi Mbonambi on the bench.
Nche was a late withdrawal last week in Durban after he pulled up with a niggle, but the loosehead prop is back and will pack down in the front row with Malcolm Marx and Thomas du Toit.
The three new players on the replacements bench – which again feature a split of five forwards and three backs – are Williams at scrumhalf, Mbonambi at hooker, and Kriel as a utility back.
The rest of the squad remains unchanged, with Eben Etzebeth starting at lock alongside Ruan Nortje in what will mark his 138th Test, with captain Siya Kolisi, who will earn his 98th cap, partnering up with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese in the loose trio.
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Erasmus said South Africa is approaching this match as a Final and has picked his strongest possible side to tackle the Pumas.
“This match is a Final for us, and we know how dangerous Argentina can be, so we selected combinations we feel will be best suited for this game,” said Erasmus.
Erasmus expected a challenging battle against the Pumas and said: “Last week they were in the running to win the title, and they’ll be determined to make up for that result, so we are expecting them to throw everything at us on Saturday.
“They may be out of the title race, but they have beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, and British & Irish Lions this season, and it would be a big target for them to defeat us as well, so it’s going to be another hard grind.
“They have a powerful pack and hard-running backs, and they showed in the first half last week that if they stick to their structures and play well, they are a huge threat.
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“That said, the focus for us is on what we have to do to try to win the competition twice in a row for the first time, so the stakes are high for us, and we know what we are capable of if we remain within our structures and play for the full 80 minutes.”
Erasmus added: “We’ll be in the fortunate position to know exactly what we need to do in the match to win the competition before we take the field as Australia and New Zealand face one another before our match, but we still need to go out there and deliver against a quality outfit.”
Argentina enters the last game of the competition with two rookies at halfback: Simón Benítez Cruz and Geronimo Prisciantelli.
It sees Santiago Carreras moving from fly half to fullback and Juan Cruz Mallía from fullback to wing.
Pumas centers Santiago Chocobares and Justo Piccardo start together for the first time. Lucio Cinti is out of the team and 23 for the first time in the 2025 Rugby Championship.
Santiago Grondona earns his first cap of the competition. Usually a flanker, he starts at No.8.
Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi said his side learnt a lot from last weekend’s loss in Durban.
“South Africa is a team that does what it does very well; they are precise in their game plan.
“It’s a bit of trying to impose our conditions or what we want to do, because what we saw in Durban was that they imposed conditions. It’s also trying to win that strategic battle to be more competitive.
“The match taught us a lot and we gave ourselves some tough self-criticism.”
Argentina will need to be the protagonists to compete for 80 minutes.
Players to watch
For Argentina:
Pablo Matera has been relentless on defence for Los Pumas this season. His combination of physical dominance, leadership, and ability to raise his game in clutch moments makes him a force to be reckoned with. His elite defensive work has led to an average of 16 tackles per game. Julián Montoya is set to be a crucial player for Argentina against the Springboks due to his world-class scrummaging ability. South Africa’s strategy tends to put a lot of weight on dominating at scrum time, and Montoya will be key in helping Los Pumas hold their own in this area of the pitch. He has anchored the scrum excellently so far, but South Africa’s front row will be a different beast entirely.
For South Africa:
There is no denying the influence of South Africa’s flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who confirmed his star status with 37 points in the most ever by a Springbok in a Test. The No.10 has already bagged 95 points in his international career, and can reach a century in scored points this weekend. Cheslin Kolbe, despite his brain fart last weekend, is another player with star power. He scored three tries and made five line breaks in his last two Tests. He has also scored one try in each of his last two games against Argentina, with five line breaks and eight tackle breaks combined in those meetings.
Prediction:
@rugby365: South Africa by 20 points
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Cruz Mallia, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Simon Cruz Benitez, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Gonzalez, 21 Joaquín Oviedo, 22 Agustin Moyano, 23 Rodrigo Isgro
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Jesse Kriel.
Date: Saturday, October 4
Venue: Allianz Stadium, London
Kick-off: 14.00 (15.00 SAST; 13.00 GMT; 10.00 ART)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
