Argentina are expecting a strong reaction from an angry South Africa in a World Cup warm-up Test on Saturday after beating them for the first time last weekend.
The Pumas’ 37-25 upset in Durban, their first win in 20 clashes, left the Springboks with the Rugby Championship wooden spoon yet also a greater determination to show they are still among the World Cup favourites.
“We’re going to receive an angry South Africa keen to reverse the image they left,” Pumas captain and hooker Agustin Creevy said this week.
“For us the scrum is a very, very important weapon. We overcame them in the scrum and I think that was one of the keys to the victory.”
A capacity crowd at the Velez Sarsfield soccer ground on the edge of the capital in a Test arranged to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ever Argentina tour to Africa in 1965 can expect a very different match to last week’s in Durban.
Both coaches, building towards the World Cup, have changed half their teams with South Africa’s Heyneke Meyer expecting his players to confirm on the field the commitment which he says they have shown him this week.
“They’ll come out differently. Their history, prestige and quality demand that,” Meyer’s Argentinian counterpart Daniel Hourcade said. “We’re expecting a hard match, a tremendous battle.”
Prepared moves
Against the Springboks, Hourcade watched his side execute prepared moves perfectly that they had not managed to do earlier in tournament in their defeats against New Zealand and Australia.
“We look to attack [our opponents’] problem areas, then you need surgical execution like in that first try,” Hourcade said, referring to a blindside move from a lineout for the first of Argentina’s four tries after less than two minutes.
Flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon, a veteran of Argentina’s third place at the 2007 World Cup, said the Springboks would mount a barrage of attacks.
“They’re going to attack us from all sides. They are a very proud team who like to put their rivals under intense pressure,” he said. “They have fast and big backs and the forwards are eight dinosaurs. They can’t be happy,” he said.
“We need to be firm and solid in defence. It’s important to tackle them low.”
