GRUDGE MATCH

SPRINGBOK lock Eben Etzebeth is getting ready for a grudge match when they tackle ’n omgekrapte Argentina team in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test match at Twickenham.

South Africa mopped the floor with the Pumas in last week’s 67-30 win in Durban as flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu racked up a record 37 points against the South Americans.

Etzebeth, back in the starting lineup after being dropped for the 43-10 win against the All Blacks, also put in a satisfying performance and almost scored the opening try in the Pumas win – just to be denied by a referee call for a handling error in the build-up to the try.

It did not stop the big bruiser imposing himself physically before getting subbed off in the second half, and he is eager to level up in a game he is expecting to be a much tighter affair than in Durban.

With the Rugby Championship title on the line, and Etzebeth expecting captain Julian Montoya’s team to try and atone for their pak slae, the Bok lock wysed: “This will be a great challenge and it will be great if we can achieve that, but it is easier said than done.

“We know Argentina are going to be angry on Saturday, they are going to come at us with a lot of hate, if I can put it that way.” 

However, Etzebeth said they are ready for the Pumas’ onslaught.

He added of potentially becoming the first SA team to win back-to-back Rugby Championship titles: “We want to play even better than we did last week and make sure we win this thing back-to-back.

“It will be unbelievable… As a team we have achieved lots of success under coach Rassie [Erasmus], but never in the history of SA rugby have we gone back-to-back in the Rugby Championship.”