The All Blacks and Wallabies in action during their final Rugby Championship encounter at Eden Park on Saturday. Picture: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
The Springboks need a mammoth win over Argentina if they are to win the 2022 Rugby Championship in front of a sold out Kings Park Stadium in Durban on Saturday evening (kick-off 5:05pm).
The All Blacks firmly staked their claim for the title, picking up a thumping 40-14 bonus point win against a wasteful Wallabies side at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday morning (SA time), putting them in the pound seats.
The win puts the All Blacks on 19 points, with a healthy points difference of 67, meaning the Boks will have to pull off a near perfect game against Argentina, to seal a bonus point and win by 40 points, if they want to equal the All Blacks points and overhaul their points difference.
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It is an incredibly tough task, but one which Bok captain Siya Kolisi believes the team can pull off, after he explained to journalists at a pre-match press conference that they are more than capable of winning by a big margin.
“I think our game plan allows us to chase that (big points difference). We sit and we study the game, the opposition, each player, so we do very detailed prep. Our game plan can allow us to chase big scores,” said Kolisi.
“Where we have messed up as a team, is we miss a lot of opportunities. Lately we have been able to take a couple of those opportunities. So I believe our game plan can get us there.
“We aren’t silly. When the time comes, say its 20 minutes left and we need to get 30 points, we will know what moves we have in our team to be able to chase that.”
Kolisi continued: “The biggest thing is our foundations need to work. Our set piece needs to work, our kicking game needs to work and our scrums need to work. So all those things need to be in place and if they aren’t it won’t matter what we want to do.
“Our discipline is also going to be important. I think it has been good (in the competition). If we can control those things, we can play what’s in front of us and what’s needed in the game.”
The Boks will have to produce their best performance of the season if they want to get even close to the massive win they need.
Their last four wins have all come by a winning margin of 16 points, and they will need to more than double that against Argentina.
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