South Africa’s dreams of seeing its team lift its third World Cup trophy were torn to shreds by New Zealand, who handed the Springboks a gut-wrenching two-point loss in the semifinals. They will look to salvage a bronze medal finish in this tournament when they take on surprise package Argentina in the third-place playoff this coming Friday.
The Pumas, who went out in heartbreaking fashion against Australia, will also look to go out on a high after a surprisingly successful tournament in this year’s World Cup. Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this intriguing Bronze Final and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the mouth-watering World Cup Final between arch-rivals Australia and New Zealand.
The Pumas will look to end their year on a winning note when they meet the Springboks at the Olympic Stadium for the Bronze Medal match. They will be looking to beat South Africa for the second time in less than three months and first at a World Cup tournament after their 37-13 loss in the 2007 semifinal.
[sc:Other240banner ]Argentina sent major shockwaves across the rugby world when it beat South Africa, 37-25, back in August. That’s the first time that the Pumas defeated the Springboks in a Rugby Championship match. The Springboks quickly avenged that defeat, however, beating the Pumas, 26-12, in their final World Cup warmup in Buenos Aires a week later.
Pulling off the victory in the Bronze Final will be a tall task for the Pumas, though, with Argentina missing four leading players in this third-place playoff. The Pumas lost captain Agustin Creevy, centre Juan Martin Hernandez, wing Juan Imhoff and fullback Joaquin Tuculet to injury in that bruising semifinal defeat to Australia.
For the Pumas to record a major upset on Friday, they will need to rediscover their free-flowing attacking play. Argentina failed to score a single try in that loss to Australia, the first time that has happened to the Pumas in this year’s World Cup. Aside from that, the Pumas also need to get a huge performance from Nicolas Sanchez. The Argentine fly-half leads the tournament in scoring with 89 points.
Demoralized by that narrow 20-18 semifinal loss to New Zealand, head coach Heyneke Meyer has selected his strongest possible side for the Bronze Final match. Leading the way for the Springboks in this third-place contest is Lock Victor Matfield who will captain the side in his 127th and final Test match.
It will be an emotional night for the Springboks who are still reeling from that disappointing defeat to New Zealand in the semifinals last week. South Africa was poised for a major upset on Saturday, leading the All Blacks, 12-7, at the half. The Springboks crumbled down the stretch, however, losing for the first time against the All Blacks in 22 tests when leading at the break.
Head coach Heyneke Meyer will look for a huge bounce-back performance from the Springboks this coming Friday, knowing that he can ill-afford another Test defeat this year. The Springboks have already lost five test matches this year, including that shocking loss to Japan in their World Cup opener.
He will turn to the veteran Matfield to provide the inspiration for South Africa in the Bronze Final. He is the most capped player in Springboks history and at 38 is also the oldest player to represent his country in test rugby. Matfield will captain South Africa for the 23rd time in his test career and for the second time in a World Cup match. He also skippered the side in the 13-5 win against Samoa in 2011.
Matfield will replace Lodewyk de Jager in the number five jersey for this match. The other change for South Africa is Ruan Pienaar who will step in for Fourie du Preez at scrum-half. This will be Pienaar’s first start since his calamitous performance against Japan in the tournament opener.
