Clean bill of health for Springboks ahead of Argentina Test — Davids

The entire Springbok traveling squad is healthy, fit and available for selection for their Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Santiago on Saturday, according to assistant coach Deon Davids.

Davids was chatting during a press conference in Buenos Aires, where the Boks are based until they head to Santiago on Wednesday, when he was asked why they decided to train there before heading to the host city and if there were any injury niggles or worries in the squad.

The Boks made a late change to their squad just before leaving for Argentina, with scrumhalf Grant Williams ruled out of the trip and Morne van den Berg replacing him in the group, but there are no further problems ahead of the team announcement on Tuesday.

“Fortunately there are no injury concerns and all the players are available for selection. They all got through training last week and as we started today everyone is ready to tackle the week,” said Davids.

“The reason for us training in Buenos Aires (before heading to Santiago) is that we are quite familiar with the surroundings, where we are staying, and the training facilities, which allows us to adapt (quickly) and do our work without any distractions.

“We then still have enough time when we leave here to adapt quite well to where we are going to play.”

Important match

It is an important game for both the Boks and Los Pumas, as the South Africans just need to win to seal the Rugby Championship, while the hosts have to win if they want to keep the competition alive and take it down to the final match between the two in Mbombela a week later.

Although the in-form Boks will be favourites, Davids highlighted Argentina’s impressive wins over the All Blacks in New Zealand and a record 67-27 win over the Wallabies in their most recent game, to emphasise that they are a very dangerous prospect.

“We are very excited for this opportunity to play Argentina here, we know it is going to be very tough. It is never easy coming here,” explained Davids.

“We are playing a team that is on a high (after their win over Australia). They have beaten two Southern Hemisphere teams and they are still in the Rugby Championship race. So this is a very important game for them, as it is for us, and we are expecting a tough encounter against them.

“Argentina are a very well coached team and if you look at their game they are on an upward curve in terms of their performance, so we have to be ready.”

The Boks will name their match 23 for the weekend on Tuesday night (8pm SA time), which is mid-afternoon in Argentina, and an interesting team of regulars and fringe players is expected to be picked.