After their heart-breaking defeats in the semi-finals last weekend, South Africa and Argentina need to pick themselves up and dust themselves down to go again in Friday night’s third place play-off.
Heyneke Meyer has largely stuck with the team that has got the Springboks this far, whilst Daniel Hourcade has rung the changes to give some of his fringe players the chance to have a taste of what this World Cup has to offer.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Springboks came agonisingly close to beating the All Blacks last weekend and reaching their third World Cup final but, after their opening weekend debacle against Japan, many will feel that they have over-achieved at this World Cup.
Now they have to raise the spirit that got them this far one last time on Friday night in the match that no one wants to ultimately be made to play in.
That said, Heyneke Meyer is not leaving anything to chance and has picked his strongest available side as he makes just two changes to the one that faced New Zealand. Victor Matfield comes in to replace Lood de Jager and take over the captaincy from Fourie de Preez who is replaced by Ruan Pienaar due to injury.
Meyer will be using this game to look to the future as well though as there are key combinations across the team that need refining if the Springboks are to get back to their world-beating best.
Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende is a centre partnership that will surely pass the test of time but who should be playing inside them at fly half? Handre Pollard seems to be Meyer’s first choice but his form is one of the reasons that South Africa couldn’t do any damage last week in attack. His kicking out of hand was suspect at best and he didn’t bring Kriel and De Allende onto the gainline enough to really cause problems.
At his best, as we have seen in games before this World Cup, Pollard can be very potent with ball in hand and this is the sort of game where he should just relax and play his natural game – easier said than done of course.
One to watch: Bryan Habana
Habana has publicly said that personal accolades are not what motivate him, but burning in the back of his head will be the thought of becoming the Rugby World Cup’s top try scorer.
This could be the perfect setting to take his chance as we expect this match to be wide open with some free flowing rugby. Habana is always looking to come of his wing and find gaps through the midfield and with Argentina fielding a very youthful midfield, the flying Bok will be looking to take advantage.
ARGENTINA
Daniel Hourcade’s hand has been forced by injuries this week as he has named a mix of old faces and ones for the future. Horacio Agulla and Juan Manuel Leguizamon return to the team in what will in all likelihood be their last games for Los Pumas whilst in the midfield Jeronimo de la Fuente and Matias Moroni form a largely untested partnership.
Hourcade will certainly be looking to where Argentine rugby is going in the coming years and the half back pairing of Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez will be key to this. Despite having 82 caps between them, they are only 26 and 27 respectively meaning that they have a long international career in front of them.
Their match-up with Pienaar and Pollard will be an interesting side note to this match as both Pollard and Sanchez – who captains Argentina – like to put width on the ball very early in phase play, which should lead to an exciting and free flowing game.
Up front, Julian Montoya replaces injured skipper Agustin Creevy to win only his 16th cap. Partnered by another inexperienced front row protagonist, Ramiro Herrera, they will be in for a true battle upfront against Bismarck du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira.
One to watch: Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe
Fernandez Lobbe encompasses the true spirit of Argentinean rugby in everything that he does both on and off the field. Passionate to the nth degree, he always leads from the front and is a menace at the both the breakdown and with ball in hand.
He doesn’t mind whether is good quick ball or slow, scrappy ball, he just wants the ball in hand to take the game to the opposition. Expect him to be Argentina’s top ball carrier and top tackler in an all action performance.
PREDICTION
There will be a lot of players in this game that will want the send-off that their careers deserve but obviously there can only be one winner.
The Pumas are a dangerous beast and have already beaten the Boks in their own back yard this season, but the injuries that they have suffered are to some of their key players, including their captain. South Africa are fielding a settled team that, despite their two defeats at this World Cup, have been growing in confidence all the time.
Expect a wide open game full of offloads and line breaks and as it wears on we could see a very high scoring game develop. South Africa by 12
By Andy Daniel (@scrum5ive)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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