Elrigh Louw says the Springboks have ‘learnt a few lessons’ from their defeat to Argentina. Photo: BackpagePix
The Springboks learnt a few lessons in Santiago del Estero at the weekend, and will take that into this week as they prepare for Saturday’s Rugby Championship decider against Los Pumas on home soil.
Several Boks, including young loose forward Elrigh Louw, got a first taste of the hostility of playing in Argentina in the 29-28 loss that saw the Boks drop to second below Ireland in the official World Rugby rankings.
A tough outing in Argentina, but we have one week to fix it...#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/UkrpIptfXG
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 22, 2024
The Mbombela Stadium will be where the winner of the Championship will be decided on Saturday (5pm kick-off), with South Africa only needing a single point from the match to take the title.
Of course, they want to set things right in front of their home fans and win after an implosion in the first half and a late missed penalty goal attempt prevented them from securing the Rugby Championship in South America.
“We obviously wanted to beat them this (past) week, and that motivation will always be there. But we will go to Mbombela and take it from there,” Louw said.
“We forced our game onto them and then simple errors and mistakes, slipping tackles, and we let them back into the game.”
“We all knew what we were going to be up against here in Argentina with their hostile crowds. It wasn’t easy.
“But we have learnt a few lessons and will take that into this week.
“The first few minutes of the game, we really executed our plan well. We forced our game onto them and then simple errors and mistakes, slipping tackles, and we let them back into the game.
“With the crowd behind them, you don’t want that.”
While the Boks are within reach of the title, one they haven’t won since 2019, their focus will be to remedy things in Mpumalanga to end the Championship on a high after dominating Australia and New Zealand.
The world champions had a perfect opportunity to go through the tournament unbeaten, but squandered that opportunity in Santiago.
For Louw, though, it is a privilege to be part of the Bok squad standing on the cusp of winning the cup, after making a strong impact off the bench once more.
“This currently rates at the top of my career at this moment. Lifting the cup would be awesome for me. It’s not even something I thought I would be able to do, and (now) it is one game away,” the powerful 25-year-old Bulls loose forward said.
“I am very motivated and really looking forward to the challenge ahead. I can’t wait for Saturday.”
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