‘We’re going to Argentina to win the Rugby Championship,’ says Boks coach Erasmus

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made his intentions clear: He is taking his team to Argentina to beat the Pumas in Santiago next Saturday and in so doing win the Rugby Championship title with a game to go.

The Boks lead the competition standings with 18 points with four victories in as many games, while Argentina are on 10 points, followed by New Zealand (seven) and Australia (four). This means Erasmus’ team only need three more log points from their two remaining matches to guarantee their first title since 2019.

The world champions’ final match of the Rugby Championship is in Mbombela on September 28, also against Argentina.

Erasmus though doesn’t seem to want to leave things for the last game, hence his decision to pick 19 World Cup winners for the trip to Argentina next week, with only seven key men rested for the trip.

Also, Argentina have proved to be a team on the up once again, having beaten the All Blacks in Wellington at the start of the competition while they also recorded a massive 67-27 win against Australia in Santa Fe last weekend.

Erasmus is fully aware of the threat posed by the Pumas.

‘Pressure-cooker of a game’

“We know how gruelling it’s going to be over there and that it will take a massive effort to beat Argentina at home,” said Erasmus.

“Although it will be tough, we want to see what these players can do in such a pressure-cooker of a game, and we are going there with the goal of winning the competition.

“Argentina proved last week what a force they can be at home by defeating the Wallabies by 67-27 in Santa Fe, so we know how tough the match will be against them, and this is exactly what we want our players to experience as we continue to build the group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.”

Erasmus added he had full faith in the 28 men he’s picked for the mini-tour, which includes captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx, Kwagga Smith, Jandre Pollard, Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel and Makazole Mapimpi, among other World Cup veterans.

‘Full faith in wider group’

There are, however, also a few rookies in the mix, among them Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ruan Nortje, Salmaan Moerat, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi.

“But as we’ve shown all season, we have full faith in all the players in our wider group and we believe that we have such a wealth of squad depth that any young player can step in and fill the boots of the more experienced players,” said Erasmus.

The seven players who’ll stay home to rest before the final match of the competition on September 28 are Bongi Mbonambi (hooker), Frans Malherbe (prop), Pieter-Steph du Toit (loose forward), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (flyhalf), Damian de Allende (centre), Cheslin Kolbe (wing), and Willie le Roux (fullback).

The squad will assemble in Stellenbosch on Wednesday afternoon to begin their preparations for the tour and will depart for Argentina on Saturday.