Loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon said the Springboks must be on point to come away from Argentina with a victory and secure the Rugby Championship title.
The world champions arrived in Argentina late on Saturday and had a full recovery day on Sunday ahead of their penultimate match of the southern hemisphere competition against Los Pumas at Estadio Unico Madre Ciudades in Santiago del Estero this week.
The Boks flew to Buenos Aires via Sao Paulo, and Dixon was excited about travelling to Argentina for the first time, and for the mighty challenge ahead.
Rassie Erasmus’ troops can seal their first Rugby Championship crown since 2019 on Saturday, with Los Pumas the only other team in the running with two rounds remaining.
South Africa hold an eight-point lead at the top of the standings over Argentina and while Dixon said a victory would be fantastic, they are aware of the effort it would take to topple the hosts, who have beaten New Zealand and Australia in the competition so far.
“A lot of people say it’s quite a hostile feeling playing in a stadium in Argentina where the fans really love their team and make it difficult for the opposition, although not in a bad way, they just won’t make it easy,” he explained.
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“But it’s a privilege to play against them here, and I’m hopeful I’ll get a chance to play. Just being here is great because I’ve always wanted to visit South America.
“We also had a quick stop over in Sao Paulo on our way here, so I’m keen to see a little of Buenos Aires and to get back to training on Monday.”
The DHL Stormers hardman has adapted quite easily to long journey to Argentina, adding: “Similarly to the Australia trip – which was also my first experience there – it was not bad. We could sleep a little on the aeroplane and we had a good night’s rest last night, so it worked out well.”
Turning his attention to this coming weekend, Dixon said the Boks must be switched on and ready for anything the South Americans might throw at them.
“Our mindset going into the week will be to treat it like a final, and I’m sure everyone in the squad will zoom into the game that way, so that we can hopefully get the win,” said Dixon.
“They obviously like to play with the ball, so we cannot give them anything to pounce on, meaning the keys for us will be to control our possession and play well when we have the ball.”
The Boks will begin preparations for the clash in Buenos Aires on Monday and are set to travel to Santiago del Estero on Wednesday night. Erasmus is set to announce his matchday 23 on Tuesday.
Photo: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
