The Springboks are bracing themselves for a fierce onslaught from Argentina when the two sides meet at the Estadio Malvinas Argentina in Mendoza in the second round of the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
Siya Kolisi and his Springbok team delivered a powerful performance to defeat the Pumas last week in Durban, and the Bok skipper has cautioned his side to expect a fierce backlash from the home side. The Springbok skipper warned that the Pumas will be a different side on their home turf.
“I don’t know how they manage to do it, but they are just a completely other side when they play at home in front of their passionate supporters,” Kolisi said on Friday.
“As an opponent you have to know how desperate they are to win at home, so that will be our challenge tomorrow.”
Kolisi, though, said that he is happy with the week’s preparations in Argentina.
“We are in a good place, training has gone well and we are looking forward to the big battle tomorrow,” the Bok captain said.
“Last week was a good start for us but there are obviously a lot of things we can improve on. I must say that our preparations have gone really well here in Argentina.
“We travelled well after spending an extra day in South Africa, which helped with our recovery.”
Kolisi said that the Springboks will be looking to deliver another big physical performance against the home side’s powerful pack of forwards.
“We’ve always been known for our physicality (in the past) and it is something which we want to bring back. Last week was a good start and we want to be better this week in that regard,” explained Kolisi.
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John Goliath discusses whether Argentine rugby has grown since they joined they joined the Rugby Championship in 2012 and what new coach Mario Ledesma can add to the team.
Last week several forwards in the South African pack played together for the first time this year, and with just one change in the starting line-up for the Pumas rematch, Kolisi is looking forward to the pack getting more playing time together.
“The more time we spend together, the better we will get and hopefully this weekend we will improve on what we started last week in Durban,” said Kolisi.