Rugby Champs: Boks beware these four Argentina stars

For the first time since before winning the World Cup, the Springboks will take on Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

Argentina are a well-settled, quality outfit that has only lost to New Zealand since the World Cup, having played the All Blacks, Australia and Wales twice each in that time. All but one of the 23-man squad coach Mario Ledesma announced on Thursday is based overseas.

Who are the players the Springboks have to be especially cautious about?

Pablo Matera

The loose forward is as tenacious and irritating as a mass of blackjacks on your socks, such is his presence all over the field, but particularly at the breakdown.

The former Pumas captain is a perpetual nuisance, a massive disruptive force to anything the opposition are trying to achieve. Enormous passion oozes from Matera at every turnover he makes, every powerful carry he terrorises the opposition with.

He may have been lucky to escape more punishment when discriminatory and xenophobic tweets from 2012 were exposed late last year, but his calibre as a player was shown when the Crusaders signed him for next year.

Jeronimo de la Fuente

When Argentina first beat the Springboks in South Africa, winning 37-25 in Durban in 2015, De la Fuente was at inside centre and looked as comfortable against Damian de Allende and Jean de Villiers as if he was having a stroll along Umhlanga beach.

Six years on and the similarities with De Allende are striking. The 30-year-old is exceptionally strong, has great skills and pace and plays with an intensity that lights a fire in those around him. Much like South Africa’s No 12 star, he does the simple things well and is a force on the gainline.

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Nicolas Sanchez

The veteran flyhalf has set himself apart with his ability to bounce back from tough times. A player with vision and a genius with the boot, Sanchez turned what was meant to be a chastening Rugby Championship for the Pumas last year into a triumph.

With Argentina racked by Covid and the team having played no rugby, Sanchez scored all 25 points as they beat the All Blacks in Sydney in their first match after the 2019 World Cup and then drew twice with Australia.

Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Another of the players who made the Springboks look silly at Kings Park in 2015, this time Chaparro will take them on as a loosehead prop, having playing tighthead on that historic day.

A formidable scrummager and powerful defender, Chaparro has the experience of 65 Test caps behind him and has the sort of versatile skills demanded of modern-day tight forwards.