Matfield tells Boks to get it done and dusted in Argentina: ‘Don’t give them a sniff’

Former national captain and Bulls legend Victor Matfield says the Springboks must wrap up the Rugby Championship title in Argentina this weekend and not leave it to the last game of the competition, against the same team in Mbombela on September 28.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus sprung a surprise when he named a strong touring squad for their trip to South America, where they will take on Los Pumas in Santiago this Saturday, before returning to South Africa for the final game of the competition next weekend.

With four straight wins in the competition, two away Down Under against the Wallabies, and two at home against the All Blacks, the Boks are cruising at the top of the standings on 18 points, with only Argentina on 10 having any chance of passing them over the final two games.

Players staying home

After their 18-12 win over the All Blacks at the Cape Town Stadium earlier this month, Erasmus stated his intention to split his squads for the final two games, sending a group over to Argentina and leaving one back in South Africa to prepare for the Mbombela match.

However, at the beginning of last week he named a powerful squad, with just seven players, namely Pieter-Steph du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, and Willie le Roux left out to rest due to a heavy workload over the past few months.

This didn’t surprise Matfield as he thinks that Erasmus wants to make a big statement and show who the best team in the world is at this time, while he also pointed out that Argentina can be a very dangerous team if underestimated.

Although they have blown hot and cold in this year’s Rugby Championship, losing 42-10 against the All Blacks in New Zealand and 20-19 at home against Australia, their 38-30 win over the All Blacks in Wellington, and their record 67-27 thrashing of the Wallabies in Santa Fe, show exactly what they can do.

“You don’t want to give Argentina a sniff, a chance of winning the Rugby Championship in Mbombela,” said Matfield.

“If they (the Boks) did that, with those guys coming over here you might be in trouble, so I think he (Erasmus) wants to go over there and get it all done and dusted, come back home, have a good victory and say we are world champions and the best in the world.

“But if you go over there, they sneak a win, and they come over here with nothing to lose, it could become a very tough game.”

The Boks meanwhile, as expected, have named a powerful team for Saturday’s match. Salmaan Moerat will lead the team, which includes 16 World Cup winners in the matchday-23.