Bok fans call for big win over Pumas

Herald Correspondent

Buenos Aires – South African rugby icon, the late Dr Danie Craven, will be honoured when the Springboks face Argentina at the Velez Sarsfield Stadium here tomorrow – which will conclude their year-end tour.

The winner will receive the Danie Craven Trophy.

For Bok coach Jake White and his team the pressure is as intense now as it was at the outset of this five-Test trip, which has so far yielded only a 50 per cent success rate.

The Boks will be up against a badly depleted Puma team, which will be minus the hard core of the side that beat France and lost narrowly to Ireland last week.

Only five of those players have made the trip from Europe to South America, leaving White in a catch 22 situation.

Should his team win comfortably, it will be said that it was against “weak” opposition. Should they lose, they will be condemned for another “poor” performance.

But White is taking it in his stride, saying that his team will always be under pressure to perform.

“The pressure of expectation, from the public back home and the supporters around the world, will always be there. This game will be like any other Test to us and we are going to approach it as a very important match.

“We need to win and win well. We will be looking to produce 80 minutes of top class Test match rugby, not just patches of good rugby,” White said.

One of the key aspects of the game will be the set pieces, and more particularly the scrums – where the Pumas are famed for their powerful performances. White admitted that his pack would need to take it up a few notches.

The Springboks will have to win – and win well – if they hope to convince the sceptics at home that they are a major force in world rugby.

� The Boks will arrive back in Cape Town on Monday at 9.30am.

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