If they want to snatch the Rugby Championship title from the Springboks, Argentina needs to score tries. Still, coach Rassie Erasmus knows the threat the visitors will pose at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

On Tuesday Erasmus spoke frankly about that threat while also giving Argentina’s coach Felipo Contempomi credit for their surge in the Championship this season.

“They will have a plan, and the plan will be to run us off our feet,” Erasmus claimed boldly.

“But our plan is to win.

“We lost one game in the Championship by one point.

“Now we have the opportunity at home [to do it].

“None of these guys have won a full Rugby Championship.

“We are going out to win, not try and stop them,” Erasmus said.

The Springboks need only a point from the match to guarantee their first Rugby Championship title since the abbreviated version in 2019 and their first full tournament title since 2009, while they will also clinch the title if Argentina wins the match without a bonus point based on competition points.

The only permutation that would see Argentina snatch the title from the Boks is if Los Pumas win with a bonus point and deny the hosts a point, which would see them claim the title based on the fact that they would have had two wins over South Africa.

We are hoping that our chances are much better with six fresh guys on this side who didn’t play and also Eben [Etzebeth] who didn’t play a full match there as well as Siya [Kolisi] who would be a little fresh,” the coach explained.

“And they are a team that likes it fast and loose.

“They have a lot of Sevens players so they don’t play with a lot of structure that they break you down with.

“They have a coach who knows how he wants to coach them and a team that knows how they want to play.

“So we will try and plan on our terms this weekend and we didn’t totally manage that last weekend.

“Their players are playing all over the world and they get them together and still perform like this and beat all three Southern Hemisphere countries – it’s only us that got a log point,” Erasmus explained.

“But I think it is nice to have countries that make it, sometimes you put them down and they don’t get opportunities but they find a way to climb up again.

“We were also in that boat and we also managed to get out.

Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi added, saying: “They bring the physicality that we always want to bring to other teams.

“We know that we have Springbok standards that we want to achieve in the game.”

READ MORE :

Springboks: Ox Nche addresses reports over mega-money French move

Springboks loosehead prop Ox Nche has addressed reports that he could leave the Sharks for a mega-money move to France.

Nche is reportedly one of many Sharks players who are off-contract at the end of the season and has attracted interest from abroad.

The powerhouse Springboks front-rower is one of the best props in world rugby at the moment and his potential availability has caught the attention of wealthy French clubs.

Ox Nche on the move?

According to a report by Rugby Pass earlier this month, several Top 14 teams have expressed their interest in the loosehead’s services as the Sharks are on the fence about whether to extend his contract or not.

The Durbanites have several high-profile Springboks on their books including the likes of Makazole Mapimpi, Andre Esterhuizen, Lukhanyo Am, Aphelele Fassi, Bongi Mbonambi and Eben Etzebeth. They also recently added Bok skipper Siya Kolisi who makes his return to Durban after just one season at Racing 92.

Mapimpi and Am are reportedly garnering interest in France as well but Nche has revealed that he has yet to see an official offer from a Top 14 club.

“I haven’t heard anything from any club yet,” the World Cup-winning number one told Rapport.

“I asked my agent about it and he said that I should just leave it to him.

“Until there is something on paper, there is nothing for me to worry about but I am comfortable with staying in South Africa.”

Nche made his Test debut for South Africa against Wales back in 2018 but had to wait until 2021 to add to his cap tally. However, since then he has become a regular member of the squad, helping the team win the British and Irish Lions series and starred in their Rugby World Cup success in 2023.

Mapimpi keen to stay on

He has been in fantastic form this year particularly considering the injury to Steven Kitshoff, producing standout performances against Ireland and in the Rugby Championship.

Meanwhile, Nche’s Bok and Sharks teammate Mapimpi is reportedly eager to remain in South Africa despite interest from Top 14 giants La Rochelle.

An insider told Rapport that the veteran winger “hopes to extend his contract by two more seasons” with the Sharks as he enters the twilight of his career.

Both Nche and Mapimpi joined the Sharks from the Cheetahs with the former doing so in 2020 and the latter in 2018. Since then, they have become regulars for the Durban-based outfit as well as the Springboks.