Tip of the hat to Rassie Erasmus.
The coach has stuck by his plan to give all of his South Africa squad playing time and expose new players to quality opponents, and he's walking the walk.
The unbeaten Springboks could win the Rugby Championship in Argentina's backyard this Saturday with a game to spare.
Erasmus made 10 changes between the Australia tests last month and came up trumps, and made another 10 this week when there was no logical reason to with the championship on the line.
Even with a two-week break between games, he rested seven players who appeared in the Rugby World Cup final last year, including captain Siya Kolisi; left at home breakout flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; and has placed in the reserves Eben Etzebeth, who is one cap shy of tying Victor Matfield's record for Springbok tests.
Already blessed with a great number of World Cup winners, Erasmus says he keeps rotating the Springboks to develop at least two, ideally three excellent players in every position in a bid to win an unprecedented third successive World Cup. But between now and then are three years and more than 30 tests to toy with.
The depth Erasmus has already grown was abundantly showed off this month against their greatest foe, New Zealand. In both games, the Springboks trailed at halftime but hung tough to clinch wins in the 74th minute in Johannesburg and 73rd in Cape Town.
What Erasmus has gambled on against the unpredictable Pumas in Santiago del Estero remains a formidable lineup but starts with almost 100 caps less than Argentina. They are tasked with clinching South Africa's first Rugby Championship since 2019, and first full championship since 2009.
South Africa has been so long without the title that half of Saturday's lineup have never won the trophy. Of those dozen players, six are World Cup champions, including prop Ox Nche.
“(The championship title) would give more credit to what the squad has built up over the last few years,” Nche says.
“A lot of teams have a tendency to be inconsistent at times, but after winning the Rugby World Cup we feel we are getting better and tighter as a unit, and winning the competition would amplify what we want to achieve as a team.”
Match conditions will be brutal. Humidity is expected to make the 33-degree temperature at the 6 p.m. local time kickoff feel even hotter.
The Pumas are also highly motivated for their last home game of the year. They have an outside chance at a championship title they have never won and will have to beat South Africa twice.
The record 67-27 demolition of Australia two weeks ago says they can do it but their inconsistency makes it doubtful. The Pumas have split tests this year with France, New Zealand and Australia. They switch too easily from extraordinary to ordinary.
The state of an injury-affected bench, particularly in the front row, also raises doubts about whether the Pumas can stay in the fight for all 80 minutes. Tighthead Pedro Delgado is uncapped beside loosehead Ignacio Calles and hooker Ignacio Ruiz, who have a combined 16 caps.
Even Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi pointedly noted it.
“Everything starts and ends with the forwards,” Contepomi says. “We know what South Africa does and they do it very well. The key will be to impose our game over theirs. If they impose their way of playing, we have already seen it: They are two-time world champions and they do it in a spectacular way.”
There's other history on offer for the Pumas, too. Only two other nations have beaten the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies in the same year: England in 2002 and 2003 and Ireland in 2016 and 2022.
But history and form belong to the Springboks, who are favored to wrap up a long sought-after Rugby Championship with an experimental team.
“The trust placed in us is a reality now more than ever,” prop Thomas du Toit says.
“As players we feel the faith placed in us as the coaches continue to build the squad, but that also comes with a big responsibility, and we all know that, and believe in what is being built in the team.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
South Africa's captain Siya Kolisi holds the Freedom Cup after winning a rugby championship test match between South Africa and New Zealand at Cape Town Stadium South Africa, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
