The Boks are currently tied with New Zealand in the Rugby Championship table on 14 points and trail the All Blacks by 13 points on points difference.
However, when the Boks take to the field against Argentina on Saturday night, they will know exactly what they need to do to clinch the title as the All Blacks host Australia in Auckland earlier in the day.
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In his column for Sport24Mallett said it’s definitely a big bonus for the Boks to know what the changes will be before the game starts.
“The final round of the Rugby Championship is this weekend and, all things considered, the Springboks are in the pounds. They (Springboks) will know if they need just a bonus point win or a bonus point win and some point difference to go ahead. Obviously a win for Australia in the early game on Saturday would be the most ideal result for the Boks, but I just don’t see it happening considering they are playing in Auckland, where they haven’t won in a very long time…
“From South Africa’s point of view, you just have to hope that the All Blacks don’t beat the Wallabies to such an extent that the title is effectively decided by the Durban kick-off. If the All Blacks beat Australia by 20 points and get the bonus point, suddenly we’re 33 points ahead of the All Blacks and they’re five points ahead of us. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it would mean the Boks would have to almost stop Argentina from getting a point.
“There’s no doubt the Boks can score 35 points, but by playing more attack-oriented rugby, you open yourself up to lose balls, make tackles, and the opposition get chances to score tries. too.
“If the points difference is around that mark, the Boks will almost certainly have to keep Argentina under 10 points on the day and we’ll get over 40. That would be realistic and anything more I think will be very difficult.”
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The match “Boks” – “Argentina” will start on Saturday at 17:05.
The Springbok team: 15 Willy le Roux, 14 Kanan Moody, 13 Jesse Creel, 12 Damien de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 France Steyn, 9 Jayden Hendrickse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Peter-Steph du Toit, 6 Sia Collisi (capt), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebet, 3 Frans Mahlerb, 2 Malcolm Marks, 1 Steven Kitschoff
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Dwayne Vermeulen, 21 Kwaga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Argentina team: 15 Juan Cruz Malia, 14 Emiliano Bafelli, 13 Mathias Maroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Juan Imhof, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranu, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Thomas Lavanini, 4 Mathias Alemanno, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Nauel Tetas Chaparro.
Substitutes: 16 Agustin Krivi, 17 Maika Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petit, 20 Pedro Rubiola, 21 Tomas Kubelli, 22 Benjamin Urdapileto, 23 Bautista Delgi.
STATISTICS AND FACTS
Springbok vs Argentina record in South Africa:
Played 15, won 14, lost 1; Points for 550, points against 272, average score 37-17; Tris scored 65, Tris missed 25; Highest Score 73, Biggest Win 60 (73-13), Win % 93%
Springbok Record at Hollywoodbets Kings Park (Overall):
Played 34, won 21, lost 10, played 3; Points for 835; Points against 601; Trying on 87; Attempts against: 59.
Springbok Team Records at Hollywoodbets Kings Park:
Biggest win: 101-0 v Italy 19 June 1999
Most attempts: 15 v Italy 19 June 1999
Most conversions: 13 v Italy 19 June 1999
Most penalty kick goals: 8 v New Zealand 1 Aug 2009
Most goals scored: 3 v South America on 3 May 1980 and v Ireland on 6 June 1981
Milestones:
- Eben Etzebet will continue his streak as the most capped Springbok player against Argentina, turning 19 in the matchthousand Test against Los Pumas from 2012 to 2022.
- After two tries last weekend, Malcolm Marks became the Springbok hooker with the most Test tries with 13. Bongi Mbonambi is second on the list with 11 Test tries.
Miscellaneous:
- The total number of Tests for the Springbok starting line-up is 809.
- There is 318 hats in the lower c 491 caps among the strikers. They are further on the bench 292
- Average caps per backline player: 46forwards 59while the bench players are average 36.
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The race for the rugby league title has gone down to the wire
The Boks and all their supporters will also be watching the All Blacks v Australia match very closely on Saturday which will begin at 09:05 midnight.
Team New Zealand – 15 Boden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieka Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Richie Mungo, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardi Savea, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Sam Whitelock (c) , 4 Brodie Retallick , 3 Tyrell Lomax, 2 Cody Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Subs: 16 Samisoni Taukeiaha, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Nepa Laulala, 19 Tupou Vaai, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 23 Sevu Rees.
Team Australia – 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Lalakai Foketi, 11 Marika Karoibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Pete Samu, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Cadairne Neville, 4 Jed Holloway, 3 Alan Alaalatoa, 2 David Parecki, 1 James Sleeper (c)
Subs: 16 Folau Faingaa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Pone Faamausili, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Fraser McReath, 21 Nick White, 22 Rhys Hodge, 23 Jordan Petaya.
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