Springboks team v Argentina: Winners and losers as ‘South Africa’s golden boy’ is back and ‘unlucky trio’ miss out
Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and front-row Wilco Louw (inset).
Following the announcement of the Springboks team to face Argentina at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires, here are our winners and losers from Rassie Erasmus’ selections.
After cruising to impressive Nations Championship victories over England, Scotland and Wales last month, Erasmus opted to leave several players behind in South Africa for this clash with Los Pumas.
The Boks head coach has made 13 changes to his starting line-up with scrum-half Cobus Wiese and full-back Aphelele Fassi being the only survivors from the run-on side which beat Wales in Durban last month.
So, without further ado, we unpack the Springboks team for this eagerly anticipated international and pick out our winners and losers.
Winners
Aphelele Fassi
The Toshiba Brave Lupus-bound full-back will wear the Springboks’ number 15 jersey for the third successive match after also starting in those triumphs against Scotland and Wales.
Fassi has endured an injury-hit season, and while he put in a solid showing in the Springboks’ 42-28 victory over Scotland, he delivered an underwhelming performance during their one-sided 43-0 triumph against Wales the following week. Although he showed flashes of brilliance, his game was littered with unforced errors, and he can consider himself lucky to start ahead of Quan Horn.
Edwill van der Merwe and Canan Moodie
Van der Merwe and Moodie have had limited opportunities to show off their wares for South Africa at Test level, with the latter last seeing action for a meagre 12 minutes when he came off the replacements bench during the Boks’ 45-21 win over England.
Although Moodie is primarily a wing, he is also adept at outside centre and will wear the number 13 jersey as part of a solid-looking midfield alongside Andre Esterhuizen against Argentina. Meanwhile, Van der Merwe was in action for the full 80 minutes against Scotland, but despite impressing under the high ball and on defence, he had few attacking opportunities and will be keen to improve in that department against Argentina.
Andre Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker
Esterhuizen and Hooker’s absence in the Springboks set-up during the Nations Championship was due to fitness issues, with the former seeing just 10 minutes of action in the clash against England before being forced off the field with a fractured cheekbone. He returns to action in his favoured inside centre role to form an exciting midfield partnership with Moodie, although the Sharks star’s versatility could see him moving to the flank later in the game against Argentina.
Hooker also returns to action after he left the field due to concussion early in the second half of their victory against Scotland. That match was the left winger’s first match back since recovering from a shoulder injury, which he sustained while on duty for the Sharks against the Ospreys in April, and he will be highly motivated to hit the ground running this weekend.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
There is plenty of excitement in the Springboks ranks as the golden boy of South African rugby makes his long-awaited return to action after being sidelined with an ankle injury, which he sustained while on duty for the Stormers in a United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against Cardiff at the end of May.
Although the likes of Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard and Vusi Moyo impressed while calling the shots as the Boks’ chief playmakers in the Nations Championship, Feinberg-Mngomezulu is their first-choice fly-half and his performance against Los Pumas will be closely scrutinised ahead of the Boks’ eagerly anticipated Greatest Rivalry series with their arch-rivals, the All Blacks.
Siya Kolisi
After initially being named to captain the Springboks during their Nations Championship opener against England in Johannesburg last month, the experienced loose forward was forced to withdraw on the day of that match due to a hamstring strain.
That injury also kept him on the sidelines for the subsequent matches against Scotland and Wales and, in his absence, rookie flanker Paul de Villiers did a more than adequate job as his replacement.
There was even talk in some quarters of De Villiers replacing Kolisi permanently as the world champions’ first choice openside flanker. However, Erasmus dismissed such claims when asked last week whether Kolisi would captain the team in the series against the All Blacks, by stating: “Without a doubt. He is fit, he is the captain.”
The 35-year-old now gets the opportunity to repay the faith which his coach has in him.
Experienced second-row combination
The return to action of the experienced second-row combination of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will be a shot in the arm for the Springboks, particularly with the Greatest Rivalry series against New Zealand looming large on the horizon. Etzebeth missed South Africa’s Nations Championship matches due to his latest concussion, while De Jager has had a plethora of injuries in recent years, the latest of which was a hip surgery setback from earlier in 2026.
Ruan Nortje was a regular starter in the Boks’ second-row during the Nations Championship while the likes of Etzebeth, De Jager, RG Snyman, Jean Kleyn and Salmaan Moerat were all sidelined with injuries.
That meant South Africa’s lock cupboard was bare, but with the former duo ruled fit to face Argentina, there is suddenly much more optimism about the Boks’ second-row stocks. If Etzebeth and De Jager come through the Argentina clash unscathed, there will be more confidence in the world champions’ ranks ahead of the Greatest Rivalry Tests.
Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw
After Evan Roos was dropped from the Boks squad, and Jasper Wiese among the group who were left behind in South Africa, Hanekom was the favourite to start at number eight in this fixture, and that’s exactly what happened. After starting on the blindside flank against England last month, Hanekom has not had a look-in for the Boks again, and a barnstorming game against Argentina should put some pressure on Jasper Wiese for the green and gold number eight jersey for the first Test against the All Blacks in Johannesburg later this month.
Meanwhile, with Pieter-Steph du Toit firmly entrenched as the world champions’ first-choice blindside flanker and arguably the best player in that position in the world, it was either Louw or Ben-Jason Dixon who was going to wear the Boks’ number seven jersey for this clash while the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year is among the group of players who stayed behind in Johannesburg.
Louw was initially a surprise omission when Erasmus named his Rugby Championship squad but was called up to that group as additional forward cover in the build-up to their first Test against England. He made one appearance off the bench against Scotland and gave a good account of himself, and will be keen to build on that effort against Argentina.
Thomas du Toit
After last playing for the Springboks in their Nations Championship opener against England, the 31-year-old front-row returns to the world champions’ starting line-up for this fixture.
He gets the nod as the starting tighthead prop, with Zachary Porthen named as his back-up on the bench while Wilco Louw misses out on the matchday squad. Du Toit, who is also able to play on the loosehead side of the scrum, started five of the Springboks’ six Rugby Championship matches in 2025 and was also in the number three jersey in the November internationals against France and Ireland.
That experience will come in handy against Los Pumas this weekend.
Morne van den Berg
With Cobus Reinach getting the nod as the starting scrum-half and set to resume his halfback partnership with Stormers team-mate Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the Test arena, it was down to Van den Berg and Herschel Jantjies for the replacement slot.
Van den Berg got the nod, and if he comes onto the field against Los Pumas, it will be the first time he sees action since sustaining a serious bicep injury while on URC duty for the Lions at the end of May. Prior to that, the 28-year-old had won a handful of caps for the Boks and shone for the Lions at club level. He will be determined to continue in that vein in Buenos Aires.
Losers
Quan Horn
With just 26 players named in the Springboks’ travelling squad, Lions utility player Horn is part of the unlucky trio who miss out on selection for the matchday squad, and he can consider himself unlucky.
Although primarily a full-back, Horn was a shock selection to start at fly-half for the Boks’ Nations Championship warm-up clash against the Barbarians and, although he did not set the world alight, he put in a solid performance. He delivered a similar showing when he came off the bench to play in that position against Scotland but finished that match in his favoured full-back role and also performed adequately.
Horn came into this Argentina game in direct competition with Fassi for the starting full-back role and with the latter receiving the nod, he can consider himself unlucky to miss out on selection as one of the replacements.
Herschel Jantjies
It’s a similar story for experienced Bayonne scrum-half Jantjies, who misses out on selection for the matchday squad with Van den Berg preferred to him as Reinach’s deputy in Buenos Aires.
After last representing South Africa in a Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in the build-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Jantjies was a surprise inclusion in Erasmus’ Nations Championship squad earlier this year. He impressed off the bench during a one-sided 43-0 triumph against Wales and will be disappointed to have missed out on selection for the Argentina encounter.
Wilco Louw
The Stormers-bound tighthead prop is the third unlucky player to miss out on selection, with Thomas du Toit being named to start this weekend while Porthen has been preferred to do the job off the replacements bench.
While Louw is arguably the most powerful scrummager of that trio, Du Toit and Porthen have proven to be better ball players than him, and that seems to have counted against the burly 32-year-old.
Louw was involved in the Boks’ Nations Championship triumphs over Scotland and Wales as he started in the former clash and came off the bench during the latter. However, his services will not be required in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Marco van Staden
While he will be happy to be in the matchday squad, the versatile Bulls forward can feel somewhat aggrieved to be lining up amongst the replacements again after he also played off the bench in the recent matches against England and Wales while missing out on selection against Scotland.
When Kolisi withdrew in the build-up to that England game, Van Staden, who has been the Boks skipper’s deputy for the openside flanker position in recent years, was overlooked with young Stormers tearaway De Villiers preferred to step into the starting role.
And now that the Boks’ skipper has returned to full fitness, he has to be satisfied with being the back-up again. Despite primarily being a loose forward, Van Staden can also slot in at hooker if needed, and it looks like his versatility means he is a better option off the bench.
Ben-Jason Dixon
Another player who will start on the replacements bench in this fixture is Stormers loose forward Dixon, who performed a similar role in the Boks’ three previous Tests in the Nations Championship.
He has been solid whenever he has represented his country, but with Du Toit not in the squad, it was always going to be a straight shootout between him and Louw for selection as the starting blindside flanker for this game.
Unfortunately for Dixon, Erasmus has opted for Louw, but he will be eager to prove a point when he eventually gets onto the field in Buenos Aires.