.png){kind=small}
Two years after being dismantled in Santiago, Elrigh Louw says the Springboks have done the hard work — and are ready to make Argentina pay when the sides meet again.
A Different Springbok Squad
The powerful loose forward was direct about it. Los Pumas are a quality outfit, he acknowledged, but this is a different Springbok squad to the one that shipped that painful defeat in Chile. The message from camp is that the analysis has been thorough, the gaps have been identified, and the blueprint has been built. Championship teams do exactly that.
Louw's words carry genuine authority here. This isn't a player talking up a routine fixture. The loss in Santiago clearly left a mark on the squad, and the fact that the Boks have returned to it methodically rather than tried to bury it tells you something about the culture Rassie Erasmus has built. There is no complacency in those comments — only a calculated, earned confidence from a group that has sat with the tape long enough to know precisely where they fell short.
Argentina's Quality as World Contenders
Argentina's standing in world rugby demands respect regardless of the context. Los Pumas are genuine contenders on their day, as recent results in the World Nations Championship have underscored. Their 35-21 win over Wales in July confirmed that much. But the Boks answered with a 43-0 demolition of Wales in the same round — a statement of intent that frames this encounter perfectly.