Manie Libbok celebrates with Faf de Klerk during The Rugby Championship match between South Africa and Argentina at Ellis Park on 29 July 2023 in Johannesburg. Picture: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
The Springboks may have finished second on the Rugby Championship points table with two wins and a loss, but they were far from impressive or convincing and have plenty of work to do before the World Cup kicks off in early September.
Jacques Nienaber’s team beat a completely out-of-sorts Australia, who didn’t win a game in the competition, while they struggled to get the better of Argentina at the weekend.
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In their biggest challenge, they lost to New Zealand.
The Boks have only three warm-up games left before the World Cup – against Argentina this weekend and then back-to-back games against Wales and New Zealand in Europe in the middle of next month. What is clear is that the 2023 World Cup is as wide open as ever.
France and Ireland from the north have never been stronger, while the All Blacks look to be back to their best.
The Boks are in the pool of death in France with matches to be played against Ireland, Scotland, Tonga and Romania.
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Not one of them will be easy. Nienaber will hope to find answers to several questions in the coming weeks. The biggest of which is whether captain Siya Kolisi is available because it looks like the Boks need him back in the No 6 jersey now more than ever.
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