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Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back. The Springbok flyhalf has overcome the ankle injury that wiped out the last two months of his season and is named in a 26-man squad to face Argentina in Buenos Aires next Saturday. His return is the headline in a selection built specifically around giving returning players meaningful Test rugby before the four-match Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks begins.
Five Key Players Return to Squad
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is joined by four other fit-again players: captain Siya Kolisi, locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, and scrumhalf Morné van den Berg. All five have been training hard through the week and, in Rassie Erasmus's words, are ready to go. Getting a bruising Test in Buenos Aires under their belts before New Zealand arrive is exactly the preparation they need.
The logic behind the selection is straightforward. Erasmus explained that the squad needed to balance returning players who had seen little game time in the opening four matches of the season with the management of those who have been carrying heavy workloads. Cheslin Kolbe, Damian Willemse, Jesse Kriel and Ruan Nortjé are among those staying in Johannesburg, reassembling at the national team's training base on Sunday to prepare for the All Blacks series. Props Ox Nché and Franco Mostert are also not travelling as they continue their rehabilitation.
Balancing Experience with Game Time
The squad departs for Argentina in two groups this Saturday. Erasmus was clear-eyed about what awaits them. Argentina are a quality outfit who have tested the Springboks repeatedly in recent years and have been competitive in the Nations Championship — a competition in which South Africa hammered Wales 43-0 and overcame Scotland 42-28 earlier in July. Los Pumas lost to England 24-31 in their most recent outing and will be hurting. Expect a physical and gruelling battle, as Erasmus put it, from a well-coached team defending home turf in Buenos Aires.