South Africa vs Argentina: The Rugby Championship live scores, blog

This weekend the abridged version of the Rugby Championship will conclude, and in the final match of the competition South Africa play host to Argentina in Johannesburg on Sunday morning (1.05am AEST). Join The Roar for live updates.

Los Pumas are a cobbled together side who have been subjected to seesawing results, with a heavy loss against the All Blacks at home and a strong win against the Wallabies in Sydney.

For the men from the land of steak and red wine defence and the set piece have been the two big work-ons in the tournament ahead of the World Cup in France.

The short run up time to the TRC has meant their defensive line has been brittle and disorganised while low quality propping stocks has been the Achilles heel at scrum time. The overpowered scrum and leaky defence has seen poor discipline creep into their game.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Argentinians, their breakdown work has been excellent, meaning they have racked up an impressive tally of turnovers in both games. The settling performances of Lucio Cinti in the centres paired with the blistering pace of blindside, but now openside winger Mateo Carreras has put the Pumas in great attacking stead.

Like many tier one nations, Argentina are flush with quality backrowers and the strong performances of number 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez and blindside flanker Pablo Matera who are paired with 7 Santiago Grondona means their will be no drop in quality. The forward pack is mostly the same, but Lucas Paulos gets his first start in place of injured Matias Alemanno in the second row.

However, head coach Michael Cheika has made five changes in a new look backline with the return of Santiago Chocobares at centre, while Juan Cruz Mallia is in the number 15 jersey, taking over from Emiliano Boffelli.

Bofelli is the regular goal-kicker for the side meaning those duties will fall on pivot Santiago Carreras in his stead. Carreras continues to get the nod ahead of veteran fly-half Nicholas Sanchez.

For the Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has made nine changes to the side that was ambushed by the All Blacks a fortnight ago in New Zealand. The Springboks have recalled URC super-star Mannie Libbok to the 10 jersey to lead them at their Ellis Park fortress.

Nienaber has brought Kurt-Lee Arendse back into the fold to partner Cheslin Kolbe on the wing. Willie Le Roux starts at fullback with Jesse Kriel taking over at outside centre alongside Damian de Allende. Lukhanyo Am and Damian Willemse slip to the bench as part of a 5-3 split.

Malcolm Marx gets his first start of the season while Grant Williams runs on for his starting debut at halfback. Duane Vermeulen returns at number eight to captain the side and is joined by Pieter-Steph du Toit and Marco van Staden in the backrow.

Locks Marvin Orie and Eben Etzebeth, will sit behind props Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff, making up a formidable tight five.

Libbok’s return at fly-half could see the Springboks have a spring in their step. The forward pack is businesses as usual and the battle upfront with be immense.

It would be an oversight to count Argentina out of this one, but South Africa has not been a happy hunting ground for the Pumas in recent years, especially in Johannesburg. Michael Cheika knows the TRC’s silverware is out of reach but that won’t stop his passionate men from giving their all at Ellis Park. Chocobares enjoyed a stellar end to his campaign for French club Toulouse and will be a damaging ball runner for them in-tight.

If Argentina can find some shape in attack them have the talent and work-ethic to make the Boks pay but should the game flow for Libbok and his men, the fleet-footed pivot should be of too great a class for the Pumas.

Game information

Venue: Ellis Park Johannesburg, South Africa
Kick-off: 1:05am (AEST)
Streaming: Stan Sport
Odds: Argentina $9.50, All Balcks $1.07 – odds via PlayUp

Teams

South Africa: 15-Willie le Roux, 14-Cheslin Kolbe, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10-Manie Libbok, 9-Grant Williams, 8-Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6-Marco van Staden, 5-Marvin Orie, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Frans Malherbe, 2-Malcolm Marx, 1-Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: 16-Bongi Mbonambi, 17-Trevor Nyakane, 18-Vincent Koch, 19-Kwagga Smith, 20-RG Snyman, 21-Faf de Klerk, 22-Lukhanyo Am, 23-Damian Willemse.

Argentina: 15-Juan Cruz Mallia, 14-Mateo Carreras, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Santiago Chocobares, 11-Juan Imhoff, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7-Santiago Grondona, 6-Pablo Matera, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 4-Lucas Paulos, 3-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 1-Thomas Gallo

Replacements: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18. Joel Sclavi, 19. Pedro Rubiolo, 20. Facundo Isa, 21. Gonzalo Bertranou, 22. Tomas Albornoz, 23. Matias Moroni