Jake: Last chance saloon for Boks

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Jake White says the Springbok 23 to face Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday are “fighting for their lives” and a place in the squad entrusted to defend the Webb Ellis Cup.

Veteran hooker Bongi Mbonambi will captain South Africa for the first time in a heavily-rotated team against Los Pumas in the first of three World Cup warm-up matches for the world champions.

The team shows 14 changes to the starting XV that beat Argentina at Ellis Park last week and writing for RugbyPass.com, White agrees with the Bok coaches’ attempt to give as many players as possible a chance to prove themselves before naming the 33-man World Cup contingent on Tuesday, 8 August.

“This weekend’s rematch is a real chance for Argentina to measure where they are. For us, it’s a massive test of our strength in depth,” the former Bok coach, now Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, writes.

“The motivation for many of the players is that they are fighting for their lives and a squad place for the World Cup – it’s the final audition.

“There are no more chances and you are not going to get more desperate than that. The message is that it is the last chance saloon for many of the guys that headed out to Argentina.

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“On Saturday, the coaches will be giving a chance to those players who haven’t played too much as a ‘thank you’ for their efforts this year. However, for the boys who don’t make the cut, my message would be don’t give up hope.

“I saw one stat that 30 percent of players who are left behind generally end up at the World Cup through injury, so keep in shape and keep your phone on!”

The Boks needed a relentless defensive effort and a breakaway self-converted try from Manie Libbok to scrape a one-point win over Argentina in the Rugby Championship finale.

Nick Mallett has predicted a “very, very tough” game for the South Africans this weekend after the escape act at Ellis Park, and White applauds what Michael Cheika has done making Los Pumas a more all-round threat.

“One of the things he had worked hardest on was becoming a little less ‘Latin’ on the field of play. You know, not to be too overly emotional and to be more calculated,” he writes.

“This starts with not giving too many cards away and you can see their discipline has already improved. In the past, you used to be able to get under their skin and guarantee you would be playing against 14 men for a while.

“Their fitness and conditioning have also improved because they are playing abroad rather than at local, more amateur clubs. Look at how they scored two late tries against the Boks to only lose by a point.”

Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

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