The Springboks are not preparing for a spiteful battle against Argentina despite Los Pumas’ ill-tempered clash with England last month.
Argentina’s most recent Test descended into chaos, with seven yellow cards shown and tempers flaring again after the final whistle following a controversial TMO decision that denied the hosts a dramatic late try.
But Bok coach Rassie Erasmus dismissed any suggestion that Saturday’s one-off Test in Buenos Aires will go down the same path.
“We know Argentina well. We play them twice every year apart from this year, so we know their players, they know us,” said Erasmus.
“Some of our players play with them at French clubs, others play with them in Japan, so we’ve come a long way with the guys who are playing for them. There are 10 guys who we don’t know in their team. What happened in their previous game in terms of the refereeing is not for us to comment. We’ve got Christophe Ridley as the referee for this weekend.
“Obviously the new protocols make it quite tough to communicate to the referee before a game. But we’ve never experienced Argentina to be a team that’s negative or too feisty. Obviously they’re hard men and physical guys, but we’ve never found them to be unsportsmanlike.”
SACHA: I’m not coming in with a big head
Meanwhile, fit-again flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu says his focus is simply on helping the Springboks continue building after making his return from injury.
The 24-year-old is back in the No 10 jersey after missing the opening part of the season and says he is not trying to do anything extraordinary in his comeback Test.
“I’m just coming in trying to keep progressing our game, keep us functioning and taking control of the departments that matter in my position,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu said.
“I’m just really trying to build again but I don’t feel too far behind because I’ve worked really hard on my rehab.
“I’m just trying to build what I can towards the squad.”
TEAM: Siya back for fully-loaded Boks
Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
