Boks to face 'hostile fans'
South Africa will be confronted by 20,000-odd hostile Argentineans when they arrive at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena in Salta on Saturday.
The Pumas have made no secret of the fact that they are hoping for some "strong" home support in the return match against the Springboks on Saturday, following their heartbreaking 6-13 loss in monsoon-like conditions in Pretoria last week.
Argentina have always produced a much-improved performance on home soil, since their introduction into the Rugby Championship in 2012.
They lost their first encounter (at Newlands in Cape Town) 6-27, but bounced back to draw 16-all in Mendoza a week later – in a game all credible experts agree the Boks were fortunate escape with a tie.
Last year the Boks ran up a record 73-13 win in Soweto, but again escaped with a fortuitous 22-17 win in Mendoza.
Last week's 13-6 win at Loftus Versfeld did not inspire confidence among the disgruntled Bok fans and now they will be faced with the vociferous local crowd in Salta.
Powerful tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera said they are "eager" to improve on last week's fine showing.
Despite the long haul back home, after a 10-day trip to South Africa, they are very happy to be back home.
"We are now in our country, with our family and [we have] the public on our side," Herrera said, adding: "That influences [the game] a lot."
He said they will be buoyed by the strong home support and it will be "very nice" to play at home.
"Most of us [in the team] were new to the tournament [Rugby Championship], a bit nervous to be playing in a game of such this magnitude.
"With the experience of a match under our belts we will be a lot more comfortable [this week]."
He said they will work hard in training this week to ensure they can produce an improved performance against a very powerful Springbok team.
The interest in the game was evident in the large crowd that attended Argentina's first training run on home soil on Tuesday.
Wing Manuel Montero echoed similar sentiments to the prop forward, saying this Saturday will be a tougher Test, as the Boks would not have been satisfied with their showing at Loftus.
"People have been very supportive of us and we ask that they continue to believe in this group," Montero said.
