Argentina v South Africa Today, Buenos Aires, 8.0Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda says he will have some surprises in store when the Pumas face South Africa at Estadio de Vélez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires today.
Loffreda knows exactly what it will take to beat the Springboks since he was a member of the only South American team to ever beat a Springbok side in an international.
The Puma mentor was playing at centre when the South American Jaguars came back from a 50-18 defeat in the first Test in Pretoria, to record a stunning 21-12 upset in Bloemfontein the following week.
While that touring party included players from other rugby playing South American countries like Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, the Test team on April 3rd, 1982, consisted only of Argentines.
It is based on the experience of that lone win more than two decades ago that Loffreda states: "The key (to victory) will be the team spirit and playing as a unit."
But the Pumas also know they will need something besides their usual scrum/maul-orientated game to overcome the powerful South Africans.
He acknowledged that in the modern era of extensive video analysis, where opposing teams carefully study each other and the tactics, there is a need for a fresh approach.
"Yes, we are planning a few surprises on Saturday," Loffreda told rugby365.
"Don't ask me to reveal what they are, but we are going to have some innovations that are going to be totally different to what we normally do."
The Puma coach said the Boks remain a team that relies on its physical superiority to subdue the opposition. "They are simply stronger, harder players," he said when asked to sum up today's opponents.
"We have to accept the reality: we are weaker than they are. But if we play as a unit we can be a lot better, because our superior technique should help us overcome them."
Loffreda felt that while the Springboks' physical superiority is not as vast as it was 23 years ago when the Jaguars beat the Boks - with the Pumas now being able to call on a large contingent of professional players - the Boks do have other advantages.
"The South Africans are no longer unsophisticated and one-dimensional in their approach. Their coach, Jake White, has brought in a new dimension to their game," he said. "They have a great lineout, I believe the best of the world at present. In general, they have devised a game plan that is far more integrated."
Meanwhile, White also pinpointed the lineouts as a key part of South Africa's game plan. White conceded that the Pumas are expected to have the upper hand in the scrums and mauls - two of the traditional strengths of Argentinian rugby - but he felt that the Boks have the perfect foil in the lineouts, where Boks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha rate among the very best in the world.
"They have their 'Bajada' and they have their maul, but we have Victor and Bakkies and it will be in the lineouts that we will take them on to ensure those other things are not such a big factor," said White. "If we can steal their lineout ball, or at least turn it into bad ball, they will not be able to get their maul going. It is as simple as that."
ARGENTINA: Juan Martin Hernandez; Lucas Borges,Federico Martin Aramburu, Manuel Contepomi, Francisco Leonelli; Felipe Contepomi, Agustin Pichot (captain), Rodrigo Roncero, Mario Ledesma, Omar Hasan, Ignatio Fernandez, Pablo Bouza, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Martin Durand, Gonzalo Longo. Replacements: -Eusebio Guinazu, Martin Scelzo, Manuel Carizza, Martin Schusterman, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Federico Todeschini, Bernardo Stortoni.
SOUTH AFRICA: Percy Montgomery; Conrad Jantjes, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Andre Pretorius, Bolla Conradie; Os du Randt, John Smit (Capt), CJ van der Linde, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Solly Tyibilika, Juan Smith, Jacques Cronje. Replacements: Hanyani Shimange, Eddie Andrews, Albert van den Berg, Schalk Burger, Michael Claassens, De Wet Barry, Brent Russell.
