Nienaber names Boks line-up to face Pumas

Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber has named his line-up to face Argentina in their penultimate Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash in Buenos Aires this weekend.

South Africa will now take on the Pumas at the Estadio Libertadores De América, after the match was initially set for the José Amalfitani Stadium, on Saturday evening (21:00 SA time).

An unchanged starting XV has been named from their last run which saw the Boks beat Australia 24-8 in Sydney, while only three changes have been made to the bench.

The replacement changes see 22-year-old Elrigh Louw, Faf de Klerk and Andre Esterhuizen come in for Duane Vermeulen, Cobus Reinach and Warrick Gelant respectively.

œWe were in a fortunate position this week not to have any injuries, which allowed us the luxury of selecting the same starting team that ran out in our last match, and we also feel that this team offers us what we need against a physical Argentina outfit, said Nienaber.

œOur plan from the outset was to give a few players a chance to prove what they can do and to build their Test experience, especially with the Rugby World Cup a year away, and there is no better opportunity to do so than in a match which essentially amounts to a semi-final for us if we want to win the tournament.

œWe have fantastic depth within our squad with younger and more experienced players, and it requires a fine balancing act to select a squad that we think will be the best team for each match, while at the same time giving most of the players an opportunity to play.

œOur first victory in Australia since 2013 gave us a lot of confidence, and I have no doubt that will boost the players™ confidence going into this match, but that said we are expecting a bruising and intense battle against Argentina in front of a hostile crowd, and we have seen in the past how much confidence they draw from their fans at home.

By Web Admin