Springboks chasing 10 in a row against Los Pumas
- World Rugby
- Sep 20, 2024
- 16 min read

AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND – ACCOR STADIUM, SYDNEY – KO 3.45pm (local time)
Referee
Karl Dickson (England)
Test debut: 17 November, 2018 – Georgia 27-19 Samoa
Tests as referee: 20 (including one as replacement referee)
Karl Dickson will take charge of this fixture for the second time, having overseen New Zealand’s 23-20 victory in The Rugby Championship 2023.
This was his second Test in the middle involving Australia, having also refereed their 48-17 loss to Argentina in the 2022 edition.
New Zealand are unbeaten with Dickson as referee, having also beaten Italy 47-9 in 2021 and Ireland 42-19 in 2022.
This will be his third Test of the year, having overseen Ireland’s 38-17 defeat of France in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations and Ireland’s 25-24 defeat of South Africa in July.
Head-to-head
Played: 177 – New Zealand leads 124-45 with eight draws
Points for: New Zealand 3 928/Australia 2 563 (Avg. score: 22-14)
Highest score: New Zealand 57 (57-22 on 14 August, 2021)/Australia 47 (47-26 on 10 August, 2019)
Biggest winning margin: New Zealand 38 (43-5 on 31 October, 2020)/Australia 21 (28-7 on 28 August, 1999)
First met: 15 August, 1903 – New Zealand 22-3 Australia – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Last met: 5 August, 2023 – New Zealand 20-23 Australia – Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Head-to-head notes
Australia and New Zealand will once again compete for the Bledisloe Cup, which has been held by the All Blacks since 2003.
New Zealand have won their last seven matches with Australia but the most recent encounter (23-20 in Dunedin) was the closest in that run.
The All Blacks staged a dramatic comeback from 17-3 down at half-time to win that match, sealing victory with a 79th-minute penalty from Richie Mo'unga after two second-half tries for debutants Shaun Stevenson and Samipeni Finau.
Australia had made a flying start at Forsyth Barr Stadium, scoring two tries in the first seven minutes through Marika Koroibete and Tom Hooper.
Australia’s last win against New Zealand was 24-22 in the Tri-Nations at the Suncorp Stadium in November 2020.
The Wallabies have only beaten New Zealand twice in The Rugby Championship, when they won the competition in 2015 (27-19) and again in 2019 (47-26).
That 2015 victory is the last time Australia beat New Zealand in Sydney.
New Zealand’s record on their last 10 visits to Sydney is W8, D1, L1.
Overall, they have a P74, W47, D3, L24 record in Sydney with 10 matches their longest winning streak in the city (1938-74).
Team notes
Australia head into round five bottom of the table after just one win and three defeats, and on the back of a record 67-27 defeat to Argentina a fortnight ago.
The 67 points is the most conceded by Australia in a Test, while it was the second heaviest loss they’ve ever experienced.
Australia opened a 17-point lead (20-3) with first-half tries from Carlo Tizzano and fullback Andrew Kellaway. But the Wallabies wilted in the second half and at one stage they conceded 38 consecutive points without reply.
The Wallabies have failed to pick up any bonus points thus far in The Rugby Championship 2024, with their four points coming from their 20-19 victory against Argentina in round three.
That victory ended an eight-game losing streak in The Rugby Championship dating back to round four of the 2022 tournament.
It was also the only time that the Wallabies have kept all 15 players on the field in 2024, with cards of some description in six of their seven games.
Kellaway has been sin-binned twice, in addition to yellow cards for Serupepeli Uru, on debut, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Fraser McReight. Filipo Daugunu also had his yellow card against Georgia in July upgraded to a red.
The Wallabies were beaten 33-7 by South Africa in Brisbane in the opening round, with Hunter Paisami scoring their only try in the 76th minute. Tom Lynagh kicked the conversion.
Noah Lolesio kicked four penalties as Australia were beaten 30-12 in the return match a week later in Perth.
Australia’s total of 66 points and six tries scored is the lowest after four rounds of the 2024 edition of The Rugby Championship.
Australia are the only team to have a 100% success rate with conversions (6/6).
The Wallabies have fallen away badly in matches, conceding 42% of their points (63/149) in the final quarter.
Australia have had 28 scrums on their own feed (55 overall) – the most in the competition.
Australia have the joint best line-out (90%) and a 96% scrum success, ranking them joint second.
The Wallabies have the lowest match average in terms of carries (104.8), metres run (644.3), line-breaks (four) and tackle breaks (18).
Australia went into The Rugby Championship on the back of three victories, beating Wales 25-16 in Sydney and 36-28 in Melbourne before returning to Sydney to beat Georgia 40-29.
Allan Alaalatoa led the Wallabies against Georgia – the third captain in as many weeks for Australia. Liam Wright suffered a shoulder injury in his first match as captain against Wales and was replaced in the second Test by James Slipper, who was rested
for the Georgia match.
Australia’s solitary Rugby Championship title came in 2015 when the tournament was restricted to three matches due to it being a Rugby World Cup year.
New Zealand are out of title contention having lost three of their first four matches to sit third in the standings, on seven points.
It is the first time that they have lost three games in a Rugby Championship campaign.
New Zealand kicked off the tournament with a 38-30 defeat at home to Argentina.
The Wellington loss was New Zealand’s first under new coach Scott Robertson, who had won his first three games in charge with the All Blacks having backed up their 2-0 Test series win over England with a 47-5 victory against Fiji in San Diego.
New Zealand responded by beating Argentina 42-10 at Eden Park, extending their unbeaten record there to 50 matches since 1994.
However, the tour to South Africa brought two furthers defeats, 31-27 in Johannesburg and 18-12 in Cape Town.
New Zealand last lost three Tests in a row in July/August 2022, when Ireland beat them in back-to-matches before they suffered a defeat to South Africa in the opening round of that year’s Rugby Championship.
New Zealand have scored 111 points across The Rugby Championship 2024 – but still none in the final quarter of matches.
The final quarter is also when they concede the majority of their points (36/97 – 37%).
Half of the 10 tries they have leaked have been scored beyond the hour mark.
New Zealand’s scrum is the only one to still be 100% on its own put-in (23/23).
The All Blacks have yet to retain the ball once when restarting play from halfway (0/25).
New Zealand’s tally of 31 offloads is the most in the competition.
They are also ranked No 1 for turnovers (23).
New Zealand’s tally of 49 penalties is the highest in the competition.
Damian McKenzie is the leading points scorer in the competition with 51.
Team news
Loosehead prop Slipper is set to become the most-capped Wallaby after being named on Australia’s bench.
The 35-year-old, who made his debut in 2010, will overtake scrumhalf George Gregan with his 140th Test should he be pressed into action.
It is the 60th time that Slipper has been a replacement, with all three of his appearances in this year’s Rugby Championship having come from the bench.
Slipper holds the all-time record for most appearances by a prop and will move to sixth in the list of most-capped men’s players.
Slipper will be only the sixth player to play 140 Tests for their country after Alun Wyn Jones, Samuel Whitelock, Richie McCaw, Sergio Parisse and Sarah Hunter.
Reacting to their record 67-27 defeat to Argentina a fortnight ago, Australia coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes of personnel and a couple of positional switches.
The front five remains the same with Angus Bell, Matt Faessler and Taniela Tupou at the coalface and Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams packing down behind them.
Rob Valetini and Harry Wilson, who captains the side for the third Test in a row, get the nod against at six and No 8, while the only change to the forwards sees the return of McReight from injury. This results in Tizzano dropping out of the match-day 23 entirely.
Jake Gordon and Ben Donaldson have been replaced at half-back by Nic White, the veteran who guided the Wallabies to their last win over New Zealand in Sydney in 2015 and will play his 70th Test and Lolesio.
Paisami has overcome a knee injury to take his place in midfield for what will be his 30th Test, a return that sees Len Ikitau shift to outside-centre.
Tom Wright’s return at fullback sees Kellaway shift back to the right wing with Marika Koroibete retaining his place on the left.
Joining Slipper and Alaalatoa as a front-row replacement is hooker, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, who will pull on the gold jersey for the first time since 2021 after returning from France earlier this year.
Salakaia-Loto has also overcome injury to be selected as second-row cover.
The All Blacks starting line-up shows just four changes, including a switch of positions for Will Jordan, to the team beaten 18-12 by South Africa in Cape Town a fortnight ago.
Apart from the selection of Ethan de Groot at loose-head, the starting forward pack is unchanged.
De Groot has returned from a neck injury to join Codie Taylor and Tyrel Lomax in the front row with the man he displaced, Tamaiti Williams, dropping to the bench.
Captain Scott Barrett is once again partnered by Tupou Vaa’i in the second row and Wallace Sititi, Sam Cane and vice-captain Ardie Savea provide nearly 200 Tests worth of experience in the back row.
Cane will play his 99th Test for the All Blacks on Saturday and could reach his century in Wellington next weekend.
The All Blacks are unchanged in the half-back and midfield combinations with Cortez Ratima and McKenzie at nine and 10 and vice-captain Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane in the centres.
Caleb Clarke has recovered from a back injury to take his place on the left wing, Jordan moves to the right and Beauden Barrett will start at fullback in his place.
Pasilio Tosi comes onto the bench as front-row cover for the first time since his debut against Fiji in San Diego in July.
Coach notes
Joe Schmidt was unveiled as the Wallabies’ new head coach in January 2024 and won his first three of his games in charge before suffering back-to-back defeats to South Africa and a record loss in the second Test against Argentina (P7, W4, L3).
He is the third New Zealander after Robbie Deans and Dave Rennie to coach Australia.
The 58-year-old is renowned for his success with Ireland, winning three Six Nations titles along with historic wins over the All Blacks and South Africa.
The World Rugby Men’s 15s Coach of the Year 2018 led Ireland to No 1 in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings for the first time in 2019 before linking up with the All Blacks as an assistant coach.
Prior to this, he won two Champions Cups with Irish powerhouse Leinster along to go with the Challenge Cup and PRO 14 title.
Robertson was announced as New Zealand’s new head coach in March 2024, on a four-year deal through to the end of Rugby World Cup 2027 and suffered his first defeat against Argentina after victories over England (twice) and Fiji.
Following retirement from the professional game in 2007, Robertson began his coaching career with the Sumner Rugby Club in Christchurch, before moving into an assistant role with Canterbury in 2008 and then taking over as head coach in 2013, where he went on to win three Premiership titles between 2013 and 2016.
He guided the Crusaders to six consecutive Super Rugby titles as head coach since 2017.
Prior to that he coached New Zealand to a World Rugby U20 Championship crown, and most recently he coached the Barbarians FC to a win over the All Blacks XV last year.
Wallaby starting XV: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete; 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White; 8 Harry Wilson (capt), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini; 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost; 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell. Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch.
All Black starting XV: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke; 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima; 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi; 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (capt); 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot. Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Sevu Reece.
ARGENTINA v SOUTH AFRICA – ESTADIO ÚNICO MADRE DE CIUDADES, SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO – KO 6pm (local time)
Referee
Christophe Ridley (England)
Test debut: 18 November, 2017 – Portugal 45-12 Czech Republic
Tests as referee: 7
Christophe Ridley will make his refereeing debut in The Rugby Championship with this fixture.
This year has also seen the English official take charge of his first match in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, overseeing France’s 13-13 draw with Italy in February.
Ridley will referee both teams for the first time.
This will be his third Test of the year, having also overseen Italy’s 42-14 victory over
Japan in July.
Head-to-head
Played: 36 – South Africa leads 32-3 with one draw
Points for: Argentina 691/South Africa 1 239 (Avg. score: 34-19)
Highest score: Argentina 37 (37-25 on 8 August, 2015)/South Africa 73 (73-13 on 17 August, 2013)
Biggest winning margin: Argentina 13 (32-19 on 25 August, 2018)/South Africa 60 (73-13 on 17
August, 2013)
First met: 6 November, 1993 – South Africa 29-26 Argentina – Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium, Buenos
Aires
Last met: 5 August, 2023 – South Africa 24-13 Argentina – Velez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires
Head-to-head notes
This will mark the first test between the teams at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
South Africa are on a nine-game winning streak against Argentina, dating back to a 32-19 victory for Los Pumas in Mendoza in August 2018.
Tries from Mbongeni Mbonambi and Canan Moodie at the start of the second half and 14 points from the boot of Manie Libbok saw the Springboks record a 24-13 victory when the teams last met in Buenos Aires in August 2023.
South Africa had trailed 10-3 at half-time of that encounter.
Emiliano Boffelli converted Gonzalo Bertranou’s try and kicked two penalties for Argentina in the Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up fixture.
The 2023 Rugby Championship fixture was played at Emirates Airline Park and ended 22-21 to the Springboks, with Libbok's breakaway try with 12 minutes left proving crucial to the outcome.
South Africa were Argentina’s first opponents when The Rugby Championship started in 2012, the Springboks winning 27-6 in Cape Town.
Argentina, however, held them to a 16-16 draw in the return match to earn their first points in the competition.
South Africa have won 14 of their 17 meetings with Los Pumas in Argentina (W14, D1, L2) including the last three.
The 2018 victory over the Springboks in Mendoza is Argentina’s last on home soil.
Their only other win in Argentina was a tight 26-24 victory in Salta in the 2016 edition of The Rugby Championship.
Team notes
Argentina head into the penultimate round of The Rugby Championship second in the table having picked up two wins and 10 points. They have never previously finished higher than third when all four teams have participated.
It is the first time they have got to double figures in terms of competition points, with a previous best of nine.
Argentina have beaten New Zealand and Australia and are now bidding to complete an unprecedented clean sweep of wins against Rugby Championship opposition in a single tournament.
Los Pumas currently trail South Africa by eight points at the top of the table and need to win this weekend, possibly with a bonus point, to have any chance of keeping their hopes of a maiden Rugby Championship title alive.
Argentina began their Rugby Championship campaign with a 38-30 win over New Zealand in Wellington but failed to back it up in Auckland a week later, losing the return match 42-10.
A losing bonus point was then gained in a 20-19 home defeat to Australia – having seen victory snatched away with a last-gasp penalty – before they turned things around a week later to inflict a record 67-27 defeat on the Wallabies.
Los Pumas scored nine tries, including seven in a second half where they scored 50 points. At one stage, the hosts scored 38 consecutive points as Australia wilted in searing heat in Santa Fe.
Joaquín Oviedo and Juan Cruz Mallía bagged a brace of tries apiece, while Mateo Carreras, Julián Montoya, Juan Martín González, Pablo Matera and Lucio Cinti also crossed the Wallabies’ line.
Tomás Albornoz kicked six of his seven conversion attempts, as well as a couple of penalties and replacement Santiago Carreras improved the final two tries.
Argentina are the competition’s top points scorers with 134, 42% of them (56) coming in the final quarter.
Over half of Argentina’s tries have originated from turnover ball (8/15).
Argentina conceded their first try in the final quarter of matches in this year’s Rugby Championship when Tate McDermott scored in the 69th minute of the round-four match.
Los Pumas have conceded 69% of their points in the first half of matches (82/119).
Argentina have the best goal-kicking percentage (92%) in the competition, missing just one attempt at goal. All 11 penalty attempts have been kicked.
Argentina have kicked the least in open play in the first four rounds (an average of 23 per match).
Argentina have made the most tackles, averaging 163.25 per match.
This will be the second time that Argentina play at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, having beaten Scotland 34-31 in July 2022.
South Africa head into the penultimate round of The Rugby Championship 2024 holding an eight-point lead, knowing that a win would secure them the title.
Depending on bonus points, South Africa could still be crowned champions ahead of next weekend’s return match even if they lose in Santiago del Estero.
South Africa have won their first four games, two with a bonus point, and are bidding to win their second Rugby Championship title and their first since 2019.
They have won five Rugby Championship games in a row and a sixth would make this the Springboks’ longest winning run in the competition’s history (including the Tri-Nations).
South Afrrica have finished runners-up to New Zealand in the last two editions.
South Africa have a P8, W7, L1 record in 2024, with wins against Wales, Ireland, Portugal, Australia twice and New Zealand twice.
Their only defeat of the year came in the second Test against Ireland.
South Africa recorded bonus-point wins away to Australia in rounds one and two, 33-7 in Brisbane and 30-12 in Perth before beating New Zealand 31-27 in Johannesburg and 18-12 in Cape Town.
In the opening win in Brisbane, South Africa conceded three yellow cards in a match for the first time in Test rugby.
Aphelele Fassi was sin-binned in round three against New Zealand and Jasper Wiese and Willie le Roux saw yellow in round four, taking the Springboks’ overall tally of yellow cards to six, the highest in the competition.
South Africa haven’t conceded any points beyond the hour mark in matches since Lynagh converted Paisami’s 76th-minute try in round one (7/58).
South Africa’s scrum, which is ranked third overall (86%), has won the most scrum penalties (eight).
South have had 78 throws in at the line-out – 19 more than the next highest team (New Zealand), with a success rate of 86% ranking them third.
The Springboks have the worst goal-kicking success rate having slotted 17 of their 25 attempts (68%).
South Africa have attempted the most drop goals (three out of four) but without any success.
South Africa average the most kicks in play per match (27.75).
South Africa have made the fewest tackles (a match average of 135.75).
Team news
Argentina have made three changes to their starting line-up from the record win over Australia, all of them in the forward pack.
Two of them come in the second row with Franco Molina and Pedro Rubiolo selected, while Oviedo steps up from the bench to replace González at No 8.
Thomas Gallo, captain Montoya and Joel Sclavi continue as the front row, while Oviedo is joined in the back row by vice-captain Matera and Marcos Kremer.
The backline is unchanged for Los Pumas with Gonzalo Bertranou and Tomás Albornoz as the half-back pairing, the latter’s selection meaning Carreras is set for his 50th Test off the bench.
Santiago Chocobares and Cinti go again in midfield with Mateo Carreras and Bautista Delguy on the wings and Mallía at fullback.
Ignacio Ruiz is the back-up hooker at the stadium where he made his Test debut against Scotland in July 2022.
Replacement prop Pedro Delgado is set to earn his Test debut off the bench.
By contrast, Matias Moroni and Guido Petti Pagadizabal are in line to play their 85th Tests for Los Pumas, the former returning after missing the last two rounds.
Eben Etzebeth has been named on the bench by Rassie Erasmus and will join Victor Matfield as the Springboks’ most-capped player if he comes on to make his 127th Test appearance.
Since his debut against England in June 2012, the 32-year-old second-row has only missed 20 Tests and has been an ever-present in the match-day 23 this year.
Replacing Etzebeth in the starting line-up is Salmaan Moerat, who will captain the team for the second time in Siya Kolisi’s absence.
Moerat packs down alongside Ruan Nortje, who is one of five players to retain their starting jersey from the win over the All Blacks in Cape Town.
Prop Ox Nche, No 8 Wiese, flyhalf Handré Pollard and centre Jesse Kriel are the others to retain their spots.
In the front-row, loose-head Nche partners hooker Malcolm Marx – who moves from the bench into the starting line-up – while Thomas du Toit starts at tighthead prop for his first appearance since the second round in Australia.
Marco van Staden replaces Kolisi in the No 6 jumper with Wiese at eight and Ben-Jason Dixon returning to reclaim the blindside flanker role with Pieter-Steph du Toit having remained in South Africa.
Cobus Reinach returns to the No 9 jersey to play alongside Pollard in the half-backs, while Lukhanyo Am is promoted from the bench to combine with Kriel in midfield.
Pollard needs four points to overtake Morne Steyn (742 points) and move into second place on the Springbok all-time scorers’ list. Percy Montgomery leads with 893 points.
Makazole Mapimpi and Kurt-Lee Arendse are back on the wings with Fassi at fullback.
Coach notes
Felipe Contepomi was announced as Michael Cheika’s successor as Argentina head coach in December 2023.
The former Los Pumas captain made his professional head coaching debut in 2015 with the Argentina XV, before taking assistant roles with the Jaguares, Leinster and most recently, Los Pumas.
As an assistant to Cheika, Contepomi helped guide Argentina to a fourth-place finish at Rugby World Cup 2023.
During his 15-year Test career as a skillful flyhalf/centre, 46-year-old Contepomi won 87 caps, 25 as captain, scored 651 points and played in four Rugby World Cups.
Contepomi faced South Africa eight times in his career and lost on every occasion, including twice on Argentinian soil in Buenos Aires in 2005 and Mendoza in 2013.
The twin brother of fellow Pumas international Manuel, he combined his playing career with his medical studies and finally collected his degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in May 2007.
Rassie Erasmus – the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – returned to the role of head coach for the next four years following the departure of Jacques Nienaber to Leinster at the end of the tournament in France.
Erasmus coached the team in 2019 and was Director of Rugby four years later.
Erasmus’ reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington DC in June 2018.
Former All Black flyhalf Tony Brown is attack coach and the responsibility for the defence now falls on former Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery.
Paddy Sullivan, who worked with the team as a consultant at RWC 2023, is on board as performance analyst, a role he performed for French Top 14 team, Montpellier, for the previous three seasons.
Double RWC-winning Springbok No 8, Duane Vermeulen, is involved in a roving coaching role with all SA Rugby’s national teams, while former referee Jaco Peyper acts as laws advisor.
Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.
Los Pumas starting XV: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras; 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou; 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera; 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina; 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (capt), 1 Thomas Gallo. Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgardo, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matías Moroni.
Springbok starting XV: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi ; 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden; 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (capt); 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok.
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