Brutal forward battle looms for Rugby Champs opener
“The forwards win the game and the backs decide by how much.”
Those were the words Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma used, when asked to explain his game plan for the Springboks.
Argentina opens their Rugby Championship against South Africa at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Saturday.
Fresh from a historic series win against the British and Irish Lions, the Springboks will be a very challenging task for the South Americans.
The last time these two teams played was at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, ahead of the 2019 World Cup – where the Springboks recorded a hard-fought 24-18 win.
Since then the Springboks won the World Cup and a Lions Series.
While the Los Pumas recorded two draws against the Wallabies and the first-ever win against the All Blacks during last season’s Tri-Nations.
Both teams have been known to rely on their forwards and, Ledesma hinted it will be more of the same when the two sides meet this Saturday.
* (Article continues below video … Ledesma talks about to forward battle)
“There is a saying in Argentina that the forwards win the game and the backs decide by how much,” Ledesma told a virtual media briefing.
“In Rugby Union, the forward battle is always crucial and I mean that is how South Africa became World Champions.
“Having said that, we are confident about our pack and I am excited to see the challenge on the field – certainly going to be worth it.”
The Bok game plan has come under a lot of scrutinies, following South Africa’s series win over the B&I Lions.
New Zealand coach Ian Foster said watching the Boks play “put me to sleep”, while most pundits have labelled them ‘boring’
“I don’t agree [with the notion that Boks are boring],” The 48-year-old said.
“I think it is very subjective, I mean who knows what is boring and what is not.
“They [Springboks] are World Champs and won the series against the B&I Lions, which is impressive.
“Those are subjective opinions.
He added: “The comments will certainly add fuel to Springboks versus All Blacks encounter later this year.”
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The referee appointments dominated the B&I Lions series with South African Marius Jonker being named the Television Match Official.
This week South African AJ Jacobs has been selected as an assistant referee with Karl Dickson from England his fellow assistant, Andrew Brace (Ireland) the man in the middle and Tom Foley (Wales) the TMO.
When asked if he has any concern surrounding Jacobs involvement, Ledesma said: “We cannot pick the officials, therefore I don’t waste time on complaining about things we can’t change.
“If we could change some stuff I would, but it’s something we cannot change. And obviously, it has to do with COVID-19 protocols. So I trust the impartiality of the officials and I have no worries about that.
“We will see after the game if we have any complaints.
“I know as a coach it is always difficult to be objective about the refereeing. We don’t always see the same pictures and therefore it is easy to complain.
“Nonetheless I don’t think that the mistakes are based on the referee’s nationality of affiliations,”
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