The English have been doing everything they can to get underneath everyone’s skin lately.

It all started when they won ten games in a row and started fancying themselves as serious contenders. The Six Nations brought them crashing back down to earth, but unfortunately no one told Henry Pollock.

He’s still been attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Most recently, he was caught on camera pulling faces and making dismissive gestures at Argentinian fans while the England team bus was making its way to the hotel.

While I understand the Argentinian fans were equally as culpable, I can’t help but feel this isn’t the sort of behaviour you’d expect from a professional sportsman representing his national team.

You’d never see the Boks or the All Blacks behave like that…

And that, my friends, is why England is going nowhere fast.

Argentina’s form can only be described as unpredictable. They yo-yo between looking unbeatable and completely ordinary.

While the Pumas can never be taken lightly, it really depends which team turns up on the day.

The game against England was a spicy affair, with the Argentinians wearing a 1986 FIFA World Cup replica jersey, harking back to Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal that helped knock England out of the tournament.

The match ended in controversy when Australian referee Angus Gardner (I actually see him in the shops sometimes as we live in the same area) ruled out a last-minute try for being in touch, despite a fairly obvious high tackle being missed in the lead-up.

The Argentinian players had to be restrained by members of their own management team as they surrounded the referee and touch judges in anger.

Later, the sound of England celebrating loudly in their dressing room was enough to have Argentinian head coach Felipe Contepomi storm out of his press conference, saying England’s celebrations in the changing room next door showed a “lack of respect”.

If you’re wondering when I’m going to get to the Boks…

Be patient!

Because I actually have quite a strong personal connection to Argentina.

My four younger siblings are half South African and half Argentinian, which is quite the unexpected combination. Especially when you consider the South African half is proper boertjie stock.

Argentina has always been one of my favourite “second teams”.

They’re the epitome of the underdog, and you know they’ll bleed on the rugby field for their country.

They regularly make the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, and in recent years they’ve claimed the scalp of nearly every Tier 1 nation.

The Boks know that first-hand.

I was in Argentina on holiday when COVID was first emerging out of Wuhan, China, in January 2020.

Argentina is a lovely place and actually has a lot in common with South Africa.

It has similar extremes of wealth and poverty, and the people are fiercely competitive and passionate about their sport.

I remember being on an expedition in Patagonia, where there was no internet, when our kind-hearted Argentinian tour guide had us all hug the trees.

It was quite amusing…

Rassie has named his 43-man squad for the upcoming games against Argentina and to prepare for the Greatest Rivalry against the All Blacks.

He’s already spoken at length about sending one group to Argentina while keeping the rest back in South Africa to prepare for the Kiwis.

He made the point that the All Blacks will already be in South Africa acclimatising to the conditions while we’re travelling halfway around the world.

So splitting the squad makes good sense.

It’ll be interesting to see who he sends to Argentina.

There are a couple of returning Boks, like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Eben Etzebeth, Ethan Hooker and Morné van den Berg, who could all do with the match fitness.

I think Vusi Moyo will definitely be on the plane.

But does he send Sacha, Manie or Pollard?

That’s an intriguing question.

I see a lot of people are up in arms that Embrose Papier has been released back to the Bulls.

In fairness, Embrose was always going to have to do a lot to unseat Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams or Morné van den Berg when they’re all fit.

Maybe there’s an argument he should have been selected ahead of Herschel Jantjies, but Jantjies has spent many years in the Bok system (prior to the last three).

Even though Rassie has released some players back to their franchises, these guys are still in the frame to play against the All Blacks and will get another opportunity to prove their worth.

Because Rassie has already said he’ll name a new squad before the Greatest Rivalry.

So the door is always open.

Until next time,

Rudi
Aussieboks