Physical, agile and skillful Pumas await Boks

Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose forward Kwagga Smith expected massive battles in their respective areas of expertise in the team’s final home Test of 2025, when they clash in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against the Pumas in Durban on Saturday, but they were excited about the challenge.

The teams will meet again at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in London next Saturday in the closing match of the 2025 edition of the tournament – where, depending on the results in the next two rounds, it could prove to be the title decider.

Both Libbok and Smith, however, were fully focused on doing what they had to this weekend for the Boks to stay in the race to defend the title they won for the first time since 2019 last year, especially with all four participating teams in the series (the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas) still in with a fair shot of lifting the trophy.

Zoning in on Argentina’s backs, Libbok said: “Many of their players have sevens rugby backgrounds and they are quick and agile with a great skillset, so we know we have a big challenge on our hands this weekend but we are looking forward to it.

“They are also very good in the aerial battle, which is an area we also pride ourselves on, so it’s also going to be a key battle in the match.”

Smith spoke equally highly of the Pumas loose forwards, and expected a fierce forward battle: “They have very mobile loose forwards who get around the park and they are also good at winning turnovers, so we are expecting a big challenge in that department. Over and above that, their pack is physical in general, and they play hard rugby, so they’ll challenge us there this weekend.”

Commenting on Argentina’s evolution over the last few seasons, Smith said: They’ve grown a lot over the last few years and they have a good balance between senior and younger players, which is a combination that makes them very strong.”

When asked about how he felt about his performance off the replacements bench and in his goal kicking in the team’s record 43-10 victory against the All Blacks in Wellington, Libbok remained humble and said: “It was good to come off the bench and fulfil the role that was expected of me. We took a lot of confidence from the way we trained that week and it was great to see how everything came together in the second half.

“Handre (Pollard), Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and I work really well together and push one another really hard and that definitely brings the best out of all of us.”

The exciting flyhalf added: “I’ve put a lot of work into my goal-kicking, and it’s good to see the hard work pay off, so I’ll certainly keep working it and always do my best.”

The match kicks off at 5.10pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

South Africa v Argentina at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban - 5.10pm

Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)

Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Angus Mabey (NZR)

Television Match Official: Brett Cronan (RA)

Split Screen/FPRO: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker; 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt); 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth; 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.