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It’s the match that no one wants to play after having lost a world cup semi-final, but South Africa and Argentina will look to pick themselves up as they prepare for their bronze medal match at the 2015 Rugby World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in London on Friday.
Both teams fell short in their attempts at unseating their higher-ranked opponents last weekend and despite a monumental effort, will have to contend for being the third-best team at the tournament.
Venue & Kick-Off
The game will be played at London’s Olympic Stadium and kicks off at 00:30 IST on Saturday morning. The game will be broadcasted on Sony Six.
Form Guide
As is the case usually when South Africa play New Zealand, their semi-final tussle at Twickenham was much the same with the All Blacks prevailing by just two points in the end. However, on closer examination, the All Blacks dominated both territory and possession in that game and if it wasn’t for the Springboks’ tireless defence, they could have won by a bigger margin. South Africa had their strategy clear, relying on the kicking of Handre Pollard with New Zealand copping up 11 penalties that greatly aided them. We will likely see more of an attacking approach from the Boks against
Argentina.
As much as South Africa were prepared to bolt the hatches and defend for their lives in the first semi-final, Argentina were just as keen that they would not stop attacking against Australia. That gung-ho approach pegged them back early as the Australian backs hit them hard on the counter, taking advantage of the open play. That didn’t cower Argentina down though, for till the final minute, they just ran till their legs and hearts could not go anymore, making for what was an entertaining match. They will likely not be adopting a change in approach anytime soon.
Teams
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has opted to stick rather than twist, opting to go with traditional names rather than give the rookies a chance. There are two changes to the Boks side that lost to New Zealand in the semi – veteran lock Victor Matfield replaces Lood de Jager in the second row while Ruan Pienaar comes in for Fourie du Preez at scrum-half.
Matfield, who will be playing his final match, will lead the Springboks out.
SOUTH AFRICA - 1. Tendai Mtawarira; 2. Bismarck du Plessis; 3. Frans Malherbe; 4. Eben Etzebeth; 5. Victor Matfield (captain); 6. Francois Louw; 7. Schalk Burger; 8. Duane Vermeulen; 9. Ruan Pienaar; 10. Handré Pollard; 11. Bryan Habana; 12. Damian De Allende; 13. Jesse Kriel; 14. JP Pietersen; 15. Willie le Roux
Replacements: 16. Adriaan Strauss; 17. Trevor Nyakane; 18. Jannie du Plessis; 19. Lodewyk de Jager20. Willem Alberts; 21. Rudy Paige; 22. Pat Lambie; 23. Jan Serfontein
In stark contrast, Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade has made nine changes to the line-up that wentdown to Australia with four of them in the forward line and five in the back line.
Fly-half Nicolas Sanchez who is the Pumas’ leading point scorer at this tournament will lead the team on Friday.
ARGENTINA - 1. Marcos Ayerza; 2. Julian Montoya; 3. Ramiro Herrera; 4. Matias Alemanno; 5. Tomas Lavanini; 6. Javier Ortega Desio; 7. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe; 8. Juan Manuel Leguizamon; 9. Tomas Cubelli; 10. Nicolas Sanchez (captain); 11. Horacio Agulla; 12. Jeronimo De La Fuente; 13. Matias Moroni; 14. Santiago Cordero; 15. Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino
Replacements: 16. Lucas Noguera; 17. Juan Pablo Orlandi; 18. Juan Figallo; 19. Guido Petti; 20. Facundo Isa; 21. Martin Landajo; 22. Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias; 23. Juan Pablo Socino
TRIVIA
- Bryan Habana has scored 15 career RWC tries and is tied for the competition record with Jonah Lomu. One more try will give Habana 65 for his test career and will take him into outright second place all-time, overtaking David Campese's 64. The world record is 69 by Daisuke Ohata.
- Schalk Burger will extend the South African team record for most RWC appearances to 20. This will bring him level with George Gregan for joint-third in the history of the competition. Only Jason Leonard (22) and Richie McCaw (21) have made more RWC appearances.
- South Africa’s Victor Matfield will play his 127th and last test for the Springboks. He is the most capped player in team history and at 38 is also the oldest player to represent his country in test rugby.
- Handré Pollard has scored 79 points at RWC 2015 and is tied for second place with Scotland's Greig Laidlaw. Only Argentina's Nicolás Sánchez has tallied more points (89) in the tournament than Pollard.
- In each of the previous two World Cups, a South African player has finished as the tournament's leading points scorer. In 2007, Percy Montgomery led the way with 105 points and in 2011 Morné Steyn topped the list with 62.
- If Pat Lambie does make an appearance off the bench for the Springboks, it will be his 50th test appearance. Nicolas Sanchez will be leading the Argentine team out for the first time in his career
- As mentioned above, Sanchez is the leading point scorer at the current tournament. Only one Argentine has previously finished as the top scorer though, that being Gonzalo Quesada with 102 points in 1999.
