--- title: "Boks have a long to-do list against Argentina before turning attention to All Blacks" description: "Rassie Erasmus keeps the focus on Argentina in Buenos Aires as the Springboks aim for a 12th straight win, and seek clarity on injuries and form before facing the All Blacks. Top of the list is winning. After that though, there are many questions for coach Rassie Erasmus that need full, or partial answering." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "PUMAS TEST" author: "Craig Ray" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/craig-ray/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-07-boks-have-a-long-to-do-list-against-argentina-before-turning-attention-to-all-blacks/" published: "2026-08-07T13:50:09" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 1069 --- # Boks have a long to-do list against Argentina before turning attention to All Blacks > Rassie Erasmus keeps the focus on Argentina in Buenos Aires as the Springboks aim for a 12th straight win, and seek clarity on injuries and form before facing the All Blacks. Top of the list is winning. After that though, there are many questions for coach Rassie Erasmus that need full, or partial answering. By Craig Ray · Published 7 August 2026, 15:50 SAST ## Key points - High stakes in Buenos Aires: the Boks must make it 12 straight wins and Erasmus is adamant the team's only focus is beating Argentina before turning to the All Blacks. - More than a result — Saturday is a fitness and form test: Erasmus wants clarity on returning stars (Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager), flyhalf Sacha Feinberg‑Mngomezulu’s ankle, Siya Kolisi’s sharpness and other injury doubts. - Don’t be fooled by Argentina’s youth: Contepomi has rotated heavily (four uncapped players, Carreras at 10 after Albornoz’s ban), so expect a bruising, unpredictable arm‑wrestle. - Teams named and match details revealed — the Boks start with Fassi, Moodie, Esterhuizen, Feinberg‑Mngomezulu and Kolisi; kick‑off 8 Aug, 9pm (José Amalfitani). Read on for full line‑ups and Erasmus’s thinking. ## Content The Springboks have one more piece of business to take care of – a clash against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday – before they can finally turn their attention to the All Blacks. The Springboks go into Saturday night’s Test against Argentina at the José Amalfitani Stadium with a lengthy ‘to-do’ list at the start of the most challenging August in recent memory. Top of the list is winning, which is always the case. After that though, there are many questions for coach Rassie Erasmus that need full, or partial answering. ![Rugby-Boks momentum](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/pabwY3ufLxfjLKmQ5ZtN-oBDobQ=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/GettyImages-2235157868_882523.jpg) *Lock Lood de Jager returns to face Argentina. Hopefully he will come through unscathed for the series against the All Blacks. (Photo: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images)* Are locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager fit and in-form enough to meet the All Blacks in a few weeks? Has flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ankle fully recovered, and will captain Siya Kolisi hit his 2025 form after continuous niggles? Will wing Ethan Hooker shake off the rust on an injury-plagued season? And is fullback Aphele Fassi going to return to his consistent best and not just show flashes of his brilliance? Will the Canan Moodie/André Esterhuizen midfield pairing work seamlessly, and can flank Elrigh Louw rediscover the form he showed before his knee injury? Can lock Cobus Wiese not only play with the same energy and dynamism he’s shown in 2026, but call the lineouts faultlessly when he comes on? And will hooker Johan Grobbelaar do enough to ease concerns that if Malcolm Marx is injured, he can step up to the same level? These and many other questions will be swirling through coach Rassie Erasmus’ mind. And that is why this is such a handy game to have two weeks out from the first Test against the All Blacks. ![Rugby-Boks momentum](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/JdETUQHl9bwKoRnS3VhCD0vwVGA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/GettyImages-2244479589_966078.jpg) *Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu breaks to score his team's second try against Japan at Wembley Stadium on 1 November, 2025. Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back to face the Pumas. (Photo: Luke Walker / Getty Images)* “I think it’ll be a helluva grind, especially because many of the guys are returning from injury,” said Erasmus. “They’ll be a little unsure in the game and need to find their feet, and we’ll need to help them with that. “Just like them with a very young bench with not too many caps, we also have a bench with not too many caps. So I believe it’ll require a very brave performance from both teams. I think it’ll be a very even contest.” ### **Only focus** Erasmus has made it clear that the Pumas has been his only focus and that the All Blacks and the four Tests to come can wait until Sunday. The Boks are on an 11-match winning streak and must continue that momentum with a 12th straight win. Winning is a habit, but so is losing. Erasmus and the Boks won’t want to start a negative habit just before facing the All Blacks. Which is why the coach has been so focused on the Pumas. ![Rugby-Front row army](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/oBYyoD8wniHuSoPO05NQbn8iFdo=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/TL_2587456_731485.jpg) *Bok coach Rassie Erasmus wants full Bok focus on the Pumas before turning their attention to the All Blacks. (Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images)* ### **Pumas perspective** It’s also been a tricky game to prepare for from an analysis perspective as Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi has included a raft of newcomers in the wider squad and has named four uncapped players in the match-day 23. Contepomi has made 13 changes to his side in all, which included choosing Santiago Carreras at flyhalf in the place of the suspended Tomás Albornoz. Albornoz received a four-match ban after his aggressive behaviour towards referee Angus Gardner during the Pumas’ Nations Championship clash against England two weeks ago. The fiery playmaker pled guilty to misconduct charges. Argentina were denied a last-minute try on review and slumped to a 31-24 defeat in Santiago del Estero. An irate Albornoz remonstrated with Gardner and made contact with the official before he was restrained by teammates. Despite the changes and the callow nature of the Pumas team, Erasmus knows that clashes in Argentina tend to be tight arm-wrestles. Which is another reason he has been trying to keep minds – mostly of his players, but also of fans and media – focused on the immediate challenge. “I’m really honest and it’s not a cliché. I’m saying, if you are an Argentinian or Argentinian player and we sit here talking about the All Blacks series, and they hear this press conference, it would be a slap in the face,” Erasmus said. “We want to try and beat Argentina, who are a really tough team. We’ve lost here, they gave us the biggest hiding since we’ve been the coaching team.” Erasmus also said he understood where Contepomi was coming from with his team selections and heavy rotation. “I guess this weekend I think Argentina have got 15 players out, and we’ve got about 15 players out. So we are going the route of rotating and keeping guys fresh,” Erasmus said. “Hopefully in the crunch matches when it gets to the World Cup or Nations Championship play-off times or Greatest Rivalry times, hopefully we peak. “Argentina are more or less in the same boat and if you don’t rotate like Felipe is doing and we are doing, the players will definitely burn out.” **DM** **Teams:** Argentina: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Joaquín Moro, 7 Benjamín Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Boris Wenger. Reserves: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Juan Penoucos, 21 Juan Martín Scelzo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Matías Moroni. South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter. Reserves: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Handré Pollard. **Venue:**Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires **Kick-off:** Saturday, 8 August at 9pm (SuperSport) **Referee:** Pierre Brousset (France) **Assistant referees:**Luc Ramos (France), Craig Evans (Wales) **TMO:**Ben Whitehouse (Wales)