The Springboks want to retain their Castle Lager Rugby Championship title, but they won’t be seduced by the lure of chasing a bonus point against a very dangerous Argentina side in Durban this weekend.
With all four sides still with an equal chance in the last two weekends of the competition to win the title, the Boks know they need as many points as possible in these next two games against Los Pumas, but are wary of a side that has already posted wins against the All Blacks, Australia and the British and Irish Lions this season.
Coach Rassie Erasmus believes the situation will take care of itself, but the first port of call is to achieve the win at home so that they can go to Twickenham next weekend and try and win the final match to defend their title.
Erasmus agreed with a question that the Boks could trip themselves up if they chase the elusive bonus point, especially against an attack as deadly as Los Pumas.
“Yeah, I definitely think so. I think two years ago we, I remember when Australia had to beat New Zealand and they just had to kick the ball out, and then they took too long to kick the ball out. If they won that match, we just had to beat Argentina to win the Rugby Championship,” Erasmus explained.
“But then we had to score 42 points. I think it was here in Durban as well, they had to score 40 points, points difference. And that game we started chasing our tail a little bit.
“So yes, we won't make that same mistake. For us the goal is to win first, but we will know what happens in the Australian-New Zealand game. Still, four points will still be in the mix, whatever happens in the other game. And then Australia and New Zealand must play one another again, so we're going to play a massive test match.
“We're not going to play expansive running rugby and try to score more. If it happens, great, but all the teams try and do the same. We're going to play a test match.”
While there are some players who were in the loss to Argentina in Durban in 2015 still in the squad, Erasmus warned about drawing lessons from the past, or creating mini milestones that would distract from the bigger picture.
“No, no, it is, it's never a nice thing for us, there's guys here that lost against Japan, we played Japan a little bit later this year, we couldn't go and break the Eden Park hoodoo, but then we managed to put a big score in New Zealand, so these mini-milestones sometimes get in the way of one's focus.
“Realistically as it stands today, Argentina beat us last year there and I know they beat us the first time here, in South Africa (in 2015) and a lot of our guys were part of that, but for us it's a team that, we think where they are now - is where we were in 2018, and the next year we won the World Cup.
“So this is a very dangerous Argentinian team, and if we worry about when guys got some mental scars, because they beat us before, I think all of us have been involved, with them beating us, so we try not to chat too much about that, but we know it's a real threat from their side.”
While Argentina are looking for consistency in their results, Erasmus did point out the Boks this season have been just as inconsistent. But he did say Argentina had a greater challenge for continuity with their players scattered across the world.
“No, no, we also get it wrong, we've won one, lost one Australia, then won one, lost one to all Blacks,” Erasmus said.
“I think the challenge, not for me to speak on behalf of Argentina, it's just my opinion, I think the challenge is when you get players from all over the world, and you have a squad like that, and you get an injury here or there, you're not together all the time, you can't get them into little camps.
“I know Felipe is a smart man, he's a real doctor, not a doctor like I am. He's a real doctor, and I think he's getting there.
"For us it's nervously watching, they’ve been getting really close, but getting players from all over and coordinating that is probably the biggest challenge, because we've got about 14, 15 players who don't play in South Africa, and it's tougher to manage them in South Africa, where you can just draw guys into a camp, align them.”
The Pumas will name their side on Thursday for the clash.