Warning to the Boks - no place for complacency when you meet the Pumas

Contrary to some of the criticism in South Africa and abroad, the Springboks have long boasted the players and the game plan to win consistently and to dominate Test rugby. The big question at the moment, of course, is why a fierce performance is so often followed by a display characterised by complacency.

The Boks have won four of their seven matches in 2022. The recent 24-8 victory in Sydney was rightly celebrated, as it marked the end of a nine-year losing streak in Australia. At the same time, it prompted the same old queries about the team’s penchant for inconsistency. Indeed, where would this team be if they played to their potential on a regular basis?

If the Boks had shown the same drive and desire over the course of the season, they would have closed out the second Test against Wales – and clinched the series 3-0 instead of 2-1. They would have followed up an emphatic win against the All Blacks in Mbombela with another victory against the old foe in Johannesburg – and would have claimed bragging rights in the Freedom Cup series for the first time since 2009.

A more clinical performance in the first Test against the Wallabies would have strengthened their chances of sweeping the two-game series Down Under.

Three or four wins would have seen them well placed to win the remaining fixtures against Argentina and to clinch the Rugby Championship title. A clean sweep of Wales and a successful Rugby Championship campaign might have provided the coaches with some leeway ahead of a challenging tour of Europe, which includes back-to-back matches against the best teams in the world – Ireland and France.

Some might suggest that there’s no point dwelling on past mistakes and missed opportunities. But the Boks would do well to heed those lessons. Anything less than a consistent display from now on will result in a plunge down the world rankings and possibly the team’s worst win-record since 2016.

 At the start of the 2022 Rugby Championship, Daily Maverick highlighted the imbalances of the schedule that had plagued the tournament for the better part of a decade. Between 2012 and 2018, the Australasians enjoyed the advantage of playing their first four fixtures in that part of the world, while the Boks and Pumas were asked to traverse multiple time zones.  This year, a change to the schedule led to the Boks hosting the All Blacks in a double-header before travelling to Australia for a two-game mini-series.

It’s fair to say that after recording two wins from four matches, the Boks have failed to make that advantage count. It won’t get any easier when they face a resurgent Argentina, who have already beaten the Wallabies at home and the All Blacks in New Zealand.

When the southern hemisphere showpiece expanded to four teams in 2012, the Boks were expected to bank two big wins against Argentina each season. Many underestimated the difficulty of travelling to South America and competing in front of hostile crowds. The first fixture between the Pumas and a star-studded Bok side ended in a 16-16 draw.

Argentina’s introduction to the Rugby Championship, and to Super Rugby in 2016, forced rugby in that region to grow. The Pumas secured a landmark victory in South Africa in 2015, and an inaugural win against the Boks at home in 2016. When a much-improved Bok side went to Mendoza in 2018, the visitors were hammered 32-19.

Over the past 10 years, the Boks have won eight out of nine Rugby Championship Tests against the Pumas in South Africa. During the same time frame, they’ve only managed to win four wins  in seven Tests  fixtures staged in Argentina.

As those results confirm, complacent teams that have underestimated the power of the Pumas and the impact of a home crowd have been duly humbled. Argentina thrashed Australia 48-17 recently in San Juan.

They followed up with a historic 25-18 win over the All Blacks in Christchurch. Many predicted that the All Blacks would hit back the following week in Hamilton, and that the Pumas would fail to maintain their intensity. Few expected that New Zealand would win 53-3.

And yet you have to wonder how relevant Argentina’s performance in Hamilton is, in the context of the wider Rugby Championship race.

Perhaps they felt that the feat of back-to-back wins in New Zealand was unrealistic. Perhaps they decided to focus on the last two games against the Boks, and to target wins from those matches to claim an inaugural Rugby Championship title.

The Pumas will go into the next match against the Boks in Buenos Aires as favourites. Forget their 50-point loss in Hamilton, or the Boks’ four-try ­master class in Sydney. History tells us that in this match-up, the Pumas are the apex predator.

The Boks won 46-13 on their last visit in 2019. That fixture was effectively a Rugby Championship title decider. South Africa would do well to approach the next game in Argentina with a similar mindset.

The Boks are already without injured stars such as Lukhanyo Am (out for the rest of the season), Cheslin Kolbe, Handré Pollard and Pieter-Steph du Toit.

The replacements did a fine job in Sydney. More changes in personnel, however, may do more harm than good.

At the start of the season, Jacques Nienaber told fringe players such as Evan Roos, André Esterhuizen, Thomas du Toit and others that they would receive game time against Argentina.

The Bok coach wants to give players opportunities and to bolster the squad depth ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Perhaps Nienaber also believed that Argentina were unlikely to challenge the Boks as much as the All Blacks or the Wallabies.

Recent events may force a change of plan. South Africa cannot afford to underestimate the Pumas and, after an inconsistent run in 2022, they are under immense pressure to secure another win. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.