{"id":558718,"date":"2026-08-04T12:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/558718\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T12:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:44:10","slug":"springboks-coaches-wary-of-big-issue-and-wont-make-argentina-mistake-before-all-blacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/558718\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks coaches wary of ‘big issue’ and won’t make Argentina ‘mistake’ before All Blacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assistant coach Deon Davids insists that the Springboks<\/a> won\u2019t be using the one-off Test against Argentina as a warm-up game for the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

However, the Boks will be using the clash as an opportunity to continue to build their game and see the fixture as nothing less than another international match.<\/p>\n

The meeting in Buenos Aires is South Africa\u2019s last game before the four Tests against the All Blacks, and while many have suggested that Rassie Erasmus and his charges will be using the match as a warm-up for the highly-anticipated series, Davids insists that is not the case.<\/p>\n

Springboks expect a \u2018gutsy\u2019 Argentina Test<\/p>\n

He explained that the Boks have clear goals that they want to achieve against Los Pumas and this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing to Argentina, it\u2019s another Test match for us, and we are busy building our game,\u201d he told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that coming to Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, has never been easy. While we are busy building our game, it\u2019s going to be important for us to ensure that we improve in the areas where we want improvement, but also to ensure that we are very clear in terms of what we want to achieve. It\u2019s another Test match. So our aim will always be to be at our best and to play Test match rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will focus on ourselves, and our main focus in this game is to ensure that we play the game we want to play, that we are clear in terms of what we want to achieve, and that we play in the right way against a formidable opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Pumas legend calls for Argentina to \u2018behave and control\u2019 themselves against Springboks after disgraceful England scenes<\/a><\/p>\n

This is not a warm-up match<\/p>\n

Asked specifically whether this was a warm-up game for the Boks, Davids was forthright in his reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t approach any game as a warm-up. We approach every Test match as a game that is important in terms of what we want to achieve as a country, what we stand for as a team, and obviously we also want to be proud of our record,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get an opportunity to set our standards or improve our standards from game to game. Yes, there are a lot of challenges lying ahead for us this week, but we\u2019re looking forward to it, and Argentina is just a different challenge. They are a very passionate team. They\u2019re very passionate and gutsy when they play in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires. It was always that way when we come here; it\u2019s always been about grinding it out right until the end \u2013 it\u2019s never easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you come to Argentina with a mentality of seeing it as a warm-up, that\u2019s a big mistake. Argentina will have their own goals, but I think the important thing for them will also be to win the game and prove that they belong on this stage. They also want to build team depth with their brilliant youngsters playing\u00a0in sevens and coming through. So I think it\u2019s going to be a passionate and gutsy Test match. It\u2019s going to be a good challenge, and we\u2019re really looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks legend bemoans unnecessary match during Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour: \u2018It\u2019s too long\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Second-row boost<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s clear that the Boks won\u2019t be taking the Pumas lightly, the fixture is a timely one as many experienced players will mark their returns from injury against the men in white and blue hoops.<\/p>\n

Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager are among them, the duo easing the injury crisis at lock while captain Siya Kolisi is back after sustaining an injury in training before the Nations Championship showdown with England. Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and scrum-half Morne van den Berg also return after missing the tail end of the URC season with the Stormers and Lions, respectively.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously fantastic to have Eben and Lood back, but also the other players that were injured or haven\u2019t played in a while. We\u2019ve got Siya and Sacha back and all of those guys, so it\u2019s fantastic to see them again wearing the green and gold, being fit to play,\u201d Davids added.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a set-piece perspective, they\u2019re experienced guys, and they mean a lot, and we are hoping that they find their feet quite well. We\u2019ve had a very good build-up towards this game in our camp week, and now it\u2019s a fantastic opportunity for them to play, which is important as we build up towards the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Steve Hansen: Stormers will want to \u2018rip the All Blacks head off\u2019 as their job is to \u2018beat the s\u2014 out\u2019 of them for the Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n

Managing returning stars<\/p>\n

The coaching team could run the risk of overplaying some of those players in their first game back, but Davids is confident that the team mantra of putting the Springboks first will serve them well in this regard.<\/p>\n

He admits that match-fitness is a concern for many of the players but says that the coaches will manage their match minutes over the next batch of fixtures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will take into account when they last played a game,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be led by the intensity and how the game gets played. We do have specific plans in terms of how we want to manage them throughout the next couple of games. We understand that match fitness is a big issue, and for them just to get into it, express themselves and play as hard as they can for as long as they can \u2013 that is important for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe operate as a collective, all 23 in the squad; the team sees themselves as important for the whole match to get us a good result. And with that understanding, we\u2019re not worried about that; we believe that they are ready. They\u2019ve worked very hard in the last couple of weeks to get themselves back onto the field, and they look forward to that. We also can\u2019t wait to see them get going and get part of the mix going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Sir Steve Hansen: Springboks v All Blacks was a \u2018key\u2019 reason why neutral referees were brought in<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Assistant coach Deon Davids insists that the Springboks won\u2019t be using the one-off Test against Argentina as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[8018,274800,1463,1464,111,43,139,69,1466,213],"class_list":["post-558718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-argentina","tag-deon-davids","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-south-africa","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}