Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says the Boks will be going all out to beat Argentina to clinch the Rugby Championship in Mbombela on Saturday. Picture: Juan Jose Gasparini/Gallo Images
The Springboks will be targeting their first ever full Rugby Championship title, and just their fifth in the history of the competition when they take on Argentina in the decider at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
Since the tournament started in 1996 (without Argentina as the Tri Nations) the Boks won three titles, in 1998, 2004 and 2009.
With Argentina joining in 2012 to turn it into its current iteration as the Rugby Championship, the Boks have won it only once in 2019, but with that being a World Cup year the competition was shortened to just a single round of fixtures.
Having enjoyed a superb Rugby Championship so far this year, with doubles over the Wallabies and All Blacks, the Boks hit a bump in the road when their mixed team of regulars and fringe players slipped to a 29-28 loss to Los Pumas in Santiago last weekend.
Now back to full strength and being on home soil, the Boks will be heavy favourites to secure a full Rugby Championship title for the first time.
“I think people also forget that, people say we last won the Rugby Championship in 2019 but that was like a shortened version, it was only a single round,” explained Bok coach Rassie Erasmus at the team announcement on Tuesday.
“So I think this will be, if we manage to do it on Saturday, only the fourth time in history (winning a full tournament).
“I think it was 1998 when I was a player, and then in 2004 and 2009 (winning full Tri Nations titles). So it’s actually been a couple of years since we actually won the full competition.”
Erasmus believes that Los Pumas will be looking to run the Boks ragged this weekend, as they chase their own bit of history, having never won the competition and still retaining a slim chance to claim the title.
“They’ll definitely have a plan and the plan will be to run us off our feet. But our plan is to win. We lost one game in the Rugby Championship by one point and we’ve now got an opportunity at home to claim the trophy,” said Erasmus.
“None of these guys have won a full Rugby Championship. So we are going out to win, not try and stop them.”
Having left six key players at home resting ahead of the final match, and with captain Siya Kolisi having been in the coach’s box in Argentina, Erasmus is confident that the team are fresh and ready for the challenge of the visitors.
“We are hoping that our chances are much better with six fresh guys in this side who didn’t play. Also, Eben (Etzebeth) didn’t play a full match there, as well as Siya who would be a little fresh,” said Erasmus.
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