ARGENTINA WILL play South Africa in Johannesburg on August 9th in the first move to include the World Cup semi-finalists in Southern Hemisphere competition, South Africa Rugby said in a statement yesterday.
A full-strength Pumas side will travel for the World Cup semi-final rematch against the eventual champions in between the away and home legs of the Springboks' Tri-Nations campaign.
"(This) is the first fixture in a commitment by the Sanzar nations to ultimately incorporate the South American country into their competitions," the statement read, referring to the body grouping the big three in the southern hemisphere - Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
"Argentina have confirmed that they will have their strongest possible team available for the match as they have secured the release of their top players based in Europe," South Africa Rugby managing director Jonathan Stones added.
"I'm sure they will be going all out to beat South Africa for the first time."
South Africa and Argentina have met 12 times in the last 15 years, and the Pumas have yet to register a victory. There will be added importance to their 13th meeting; seedings for the 2011 Rugby World Cup will be based on the International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings as of December 1st. South Africa are ranked first and Argentina third.
"The new seeding arrangements for the Rugby World Cup mean that every test result this season will be vital and Argentina will be determined to hold on to their top-four ranking," Stones said.
The Ellis Park test will be part of the celebrations for the 90th birthday of the former South Africa president Nelson Mandela.
The former Ireland Under-21 and Connacht secondrow Damian Browne has joined the French Top 14 side Brive from Northampton Saints.
The 27-year-old Galway city native has spent four years playing for Northampton, having moved from Connacht in 2004.
"I really enjoyed my time with Northampton," he said. "They're a great club to play for and they really look after their players. I wish them all the best on their return to the Premiership and I'll always be cheering them on from afar as I've had some great success with them."
Browne twice reached the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup with the Guinness Premiership side. They got to the quarter-finals in his first season with them and lost in last year's semi-finals to the eventual winners, Wasps.
Browne missed a large chunk of Saints' successful promotion bid this season and now feels the time is right for a new challenge.
With several former Northampton players currently playing for Brive - including Ben Cohen, Steve Thompson and the recently signed former Connacht player Christian Short - Browne quickly found out that the side came highly recommended.
"I went out to Brive and met with their director of rugby, Laurent Seigne, and obviously I know a few of the lads who've left Northampton for Brive and I was very impressed with the place," said the 6ft 6in lock.
"More than anything I was keen for a change of scenery. It's great to have played in both the Magners League with Connacht and the Premiership with Northampton but the French Top 14 is a league I've always wanted to play in too, so overall I'm delighted."
