Victor Matfield
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer named his strongest possible team as a mark of the greatest respect to an outstanding Argentina team as both teams chase the end-of-season reward of a bronze medal at the Olympic Stadium in London on Friday evening.
Victor Matfield replaces Lood de Jager as 1 of only 2 changes to the starting line-up from Saturday’s semifinal against New Zealand. He takes over the over the captaincy from the injured Fourie du Preez, whose place in the No 9 jersey is taken by Ruan Pienaar, with Rudy Paige coming onto the bench.
“This is a critical match for us and we owe it to ourselves and our supporters to end the season on a high note,” said Meyer.
“The Pumas have made massive strides in recent years and we’ve experienced first-hand how tough an opponent they can be. The players realise that they will have to lift themselves for 1 final push on Friday to ensure that South African rugby goes into the off season on a winning note.
“I considered fielding a much-changed team and weighed the pros and cons but ultimately decided the team that has grown together over the past few weeks was the 1 with the best chance of delivering victory for our supporters.”
Meyer said the playoff match for 3rd place at the Rugby World Cup is not what the Springboks had hoped for, but that they will approach the final Test of 2015 as the final.
“The players have all spoken about the honour of wearing the Springbok jersey and this Test is no different – we will never settle for being 2nd or 3rd best,” he said.
“It is my task to get them in the right frame of mind after the disappointment of last weekend and to ensure we bounce back with a good win after a tough week. To lose a Test is never good enough but we’ve put last week behind us and our focus is now solely on Friday.
“Although our aim was always to win the competition, we have the opportunity to finish our campaign on a high and that is what we will be aiming for against a very good Argentinian side.
Pat Lambie will reach the special milestone of 50 Test caps for South Africa if he gets game-time off the bench.
Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (Captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Date: Friday 30 October
Venue: Olympic Stadium, London
Kick-Off: 22:00 SA Time (20:00 UK Time, 20:00 GMT, 17:00 Arg Time)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
TMO: Graham Hughes
Stats and facts:
- Only once before did South Africa and Argentina meet in a Rugby World Cup. In 2007 they played in 1 semifinal at Stade de France while France and England contested the other semifinal. South Africa won that match by 37 / 13.
- Friday’s Test match will be the 22nd between the 2 countries. South Africa’s record against Argentina: P 21, W 19, L 1, D 1, PF 779, PA 410, Win% 90%.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 835. There are 342 caps in the backline with 493 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 274 caps.
- Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 115 caps in this position. He is the most experienced Springbok backline player with 116 caps and only Victor Matfield has played in more Test matches.
- If he scores a try, Bryan will extend his own record of 64 Test tries for South Africa. Currently he is joint 2nd on the list for most Test tries. David Campese of Australia is the other player. 1st On the list is Daisuke Ohata of Japan on 69 career tries.
- Bryan is the world record holder for most Test tries as a wing. He surpassed the previous record of Daisuke Ohata of Japan (62) during the pool match against the USA.
- Bryan is the joint record holder for most career tries (15) in Rugby World Cup, with Jonah Lomu of New Zealand. Drew Mitchell of Australia is next on the list with 14 Rugby World Cup career tries. Friday’s Test will be his 18th Rugby World Cup match, the most Rugby World Cup matches by a Springbok backline player.
- Bryan holds the record for most Test matches (11) against Argentina as well as most career tries (7) by a Springbok against Argentina.
- Bryan and JP Pietersen will be playing in their record 44th Test as a wing combination in the starting 15.
- Handré Pollard kicked 5 successful penalty goals in the match against New Zealand to become the new Springbok record holder with 19 Rugby World Cup penalty goals. This surpassed the record of 17 career penalty goals previously held by Percy Montgomery. This Test will be his 20th in the Green and Gold.
- Schalk Burger will play in his 79th Test as a flank, South Africa’s most capped Springbok flank. Friday’s Test will be his 20th Rugby World Cup Test – the most by a Springbok in Rugby World Cup tournaments. He is also the Springbok record holder for most tries as a flank (14) as well as a forward (16).
- Victor Matfield will captain the team for the 23rd time, making him the 5th most capped captain for South Africa. His 127th Test cap for South Africa makes him the 6th most capped player in the world. Victor made his Test debut on 30 June, 2001 against Italy. Friday’s Test will be 14 years and 122 days later, the longest career span in Springbok rugby.
- Bismarck du Plessis is the Springbok record holder for most tries (11) in Tests as a hooker. He and brother Jannie will play in their 50th Test together should Jannie be used from the bench.
- The referee is John Lacey of Ireland who is a former rugby player who played on the wing and at fullback for Munster until 2007. His debut as an international referee was in March 2010. During this tournament he was referee in 3 Test matches, including the New Zealand / Tonga Test.
- It will be his 3rd Test involving South Africa. Of the previous 2 Tests, South Africa won 1 (against Argentina in 2014) and lost 1 (against Wales in 2014).
- The Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the venue for this Bronze final match. South Africa have played 1 Test at this stadium, against the USA in this tournament, winning 64 / 0.
Springbok Test match record holders at the Olympic Stadium:
- Most points: 15 by Bryan Habana (3 tries) against the USA, 7 October 2015
- Most tries: 3 by Bryan Habana against the USA, 7 October 2015
- Most conversions: 4 by Handré Pollard against the USA, 7 October 2015
Wow what an exciting team… not
Even in a meaningless match Meyer refuses to give more opportunities to black players to prove themselves at test level. He seems totally incapable to grasp the bigger picture and is playing into the hands of Cosatu etc.
@ robzim:
He is a desperate man…Meyer…has lacked foresight from day one imo…This is the most important game for Bok rugby….a loss here and Meyer should be gone…
He should be gone regardless.
At least Divvy was interesting.
And he beat the AB’s in NZ
@ Te Rangatira:
The match is against a very weakened Argie team that is also unlikely to have recovered mentally from the demoralizing loss against the Aussies.
Taking that, and the considerate pressure from home to transform the team into consideration, I am astonished that HM saw fit not to start with Paige and not have included Mvovo and Kolisi at least on the bench. It is highly unlikely that it would have weakened the team in the slightest.
Meyer is losing face more and more on different fronts and even if they beat the Argies by a 100 points on Friday he should be fired before he causes any further harm.
“Ungrateful team selection towards the rest of the 31-man squad who worked just as hard the last 4 years” – flip van der merwe.
Hehe i dont think meyer or matfield will be getting a xmas card from flip.
@ robzim:
He’s brought no new black players through the Bok system that are starters…He’s had four years and has failed…i hope the Argues play a blinder
Scott Sio is starting in place of James Slipper who drops to the bench with reserve Toby Smith dropping out of squad for RWC final. No other changes to the squad which beat Argentina in the semifinal.
Go oom Vic en oom Schalk, legendes vir oulaas.
Het gemengde gevoelens oor die game, wil nooit ‘n Bokspan sien verloor nie, maar sien nog minder kans vir nog 4 jaar se kick and chase!
😯
This is an outrage….how dare they snub our coach like that.
Did they not follow SR in 2007?
Bunch of imbeciles
World Rugby has revealed its list of nominees for the Coach of the Year and Team of the Year.
The sport’s governing body will reveal the eventual winners on November 1st.
New Zealand are naturally on the Team of the Year list, alongside fellow World Cup finalists Australia, Ireland’s conquerors Argentina and the Japan side which shocked South Africa and won three pool games at this year’s tournament.
The coaches nominations follow a similar pattern with Steve Hansen (New Zealand), Michael Cheika (Australia), Daniel Hourcade (Argentina) and Eddie Jones (Japan) under consideration.
“Michael Cheika, Steve Hansen, Daniel Hourcade and Eddie Jones have all enjoyed stellar years in 2015,” said World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.
“Each of them is an experienced coach, used to the stresses and strains of leading top sides but this year they have all excelled by ensuring their players were in peak physical, mental and technical condition and ready to set Rugby World Cup 2015 alight with their skill, strength, athleticism and calmness under pressure. Through their leadership, these coaches have contributed greatly to a magnificent rugby year and whoever is named the World Rugby Coach of the Year will be deserving of that prestigious accolade.”
One interesting article floating around is that Cheika of Australia has done more with their winning culture in 1 year than Heyneke Meyer could do in 4 years.
@ nortie:
I’d give the award to Eddie and the Brave Blossoms. Partly because it was surely a bigger feat for Japan to beat the Boks (admittedly not a good Bok team, but still) than anything any of the other teams accomplished, and partly because “Eddie and the Brave Blossoms” sounds like the name of a cool rock band.
Off topic, but this makes me livid.
Which one is fatter?
https://www.change.org/p/delta-air-lines-end-the-transport-of-exotic-animal-hunting-trophies
OK, I’ve scheduled the 2 remaining Rugby World Cup 2015 live Game Articles!
I had the kick-off times wrong in the Team Announcement Articles… have fixed them now.
The UK moved back 1 hour compared to SA Time, due to Daylight Savings changes (which always happen on the last Sunday of October every year), so as from this past Sunday GMT and UK Time is now the same.
I missed this, as South Africa is NEVER affected by clock changes due to Daylight Savings Times.
The 3rd Place Play-off: Springboks vs Los Pumas game is on Vriday (todnight) at 22:00 SA Time.
The Final: All Blacks vs Wallabies game is on Saturday at 18:00 SA Time.
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