Springbok legend Victor Matfield is convinced the Boks travel to Santiago next week in cup final mode because they want to put the seal on the Rugby Championship and have no pressure on them in the return match in Mbombela
The Boks are sitting pretty at the top of the points table but Argentina are in second place and back-to-back defeats of the Boks will see them win the trophy for the first time.
“If you look at the Pumas and how they have performed in the Championship, they can play seriously good rugby — they beat the All Blacks in New Zealand and put 67 points past the Wallabies,” Matfield said.
“So Rassie (Erasmus) doesn’t want them to be coming to Mbobmela with a win behind them and in with a sniff of snatching the title. If that happened, the Pumas would have a nothing-to-lose attitude and with their strike power out wide, that would make them extremely dangerous.
“So the message from Rassie is let’s put them away, win the title, and return home to Mbombela and deliver a performance worthy of champions.”
Eben Etzebeth will be in the Springbok squad and he will draw level with Matfield on 127 Test caps and the following week he will celebrate becoming the most capped Bok of them all.
“There is no better player to take the new record,” the modest Matfield said. “I think Eben will go down as the greatest player to wear the green and gold. He has won two World Cups, he has been SA Rugby Player of the Year three times and nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year on several occasions.
“He is an unbelievable player and I think he can get easily to 150 caps.”
The 47-year-old Matfield reflected on what makes Etzebeth so good.
“It is a rare combination of athleticism and physical strength,” Matfield said. “He has the physical attributes of a Bakkies Botha but can run around the field like a flank. A lot of the big boys don’t have the engine to get about the field but you see Eben chasing box kicks like a flank.
“As a young player, there was a worry about his discipline but he has matured into one of the leaders in the team. He is Siya’s right-hand man.”
Before jetting off to South America yesterday, the Boks had been training in Stellenbosch for the trip to Santiago and they were joined on Thursday by scrumhalf Morne van den Berg because of a training ground injury to Grant Williams.
The Lions No 9 made his debut against Portugal in Bloemfontein and earned his first start in the green and gold against Australia in Perth last month.
With Erasmus looking to give players a chance to gain valuable game time against the top teams in the world and build squad depth for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, this will offer Van den Berg a valuable opportunity to measure himself against top opposition.
“It’s always sad to lose a player to injury, and we feel for Grant who has been waiting patiently for his chance to start this season, which he finally achieved last week,” said Erasmus.
“But we have great squad depth, and if one player is injured it opens the door for another player to make a statement. Morne has only played two Tests so far, and facing Argentina at home is a completely different challenge from what he has faced so far, as is the case with many of the younger players in the touring squad.
“If he receives the opportunity to play, it will be a great way for the coaches to see how he handles that type of pressure, and it would also be a stern test for him personally.”