RGR TOUR: Buenos Aires game will prove Bok readiness for All Blacks

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour kicks off in Cape Town on Friday night with the DHL Stormers hosting the All Blacks, but there will be as big a focus in this hectic first week on what happens the following night, with the Springboks playing a warm-up test against Argentina in Buenos Aires.

The Boks arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday and will start their preparations for the game on Monday, with Rassie Erasmus due to announce his team for the game on Tuesday. The game is being couched as a test for the readiness of the old guard for the All Blacks series that kicks off in Johannesburg on 22 August, but that is not entirely accurate as there is nothing old about Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

The 24-year-old Stormers flyhalf has been out of rugby since an injury sustained in the Vodacom URC quarterfinal against Cardiff in Cape Town in late May and, with the game being played just two weeks before the first test in Johannesburg, the clash with the Los Pumas will test his readiness to wear the No 10 jersey at Ellis Park.

It has largely been overlooked that the three comfortable wins scored by the Boks in their Nations Championship clashes with England, Scotland and Wales were achieved without the man regarded by many as the best flyhalf in world rugby. Feinberg-Mngomezulu was a pivotal player in the big Bok surge towards the end of the last Castle Lager Rugby Championship season and on the November tour and will be an important player in the series against the All Blacks - provided he is fit to play.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has given an extensive injury update ahead of their Test match against Argentina and #RugbysGreatestRivalry next month 🤕🗣️#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/0pVTFzMYTD
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 28, 2026

Eben Etzebeth is 10 years older than Feinberg-Mngomezulu but no less influential in his role as the Bok enforcer. He was also absent from the home leg of the Bok Nations Championship campaign and has in fact played only once since the suspension he incurred for the eye-gouging incident that attracted so much controversy at the end of the final test of 2025 against Wales.

Cobus Wiese did well when called upon to play No 4 lock against Scotland and Wales, and Pieter-Steph du Toit can always be used there, but ideally the Boks would want South Africa’s most capped player to be fit and in prime form against the All Blacks. He was selected for the first test of the year against England but withdrew during the week with a concussion issue, so this will be his first feel of the green and gold jersey since last November.

ESTABLISHED LEADER MAKES HIS RETURN

Double World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi has also not played a test match this year, although he was very impressive when he led the team against the Barbarians in the unofficial international start to the season against the Barbarians in Gqeberha.

Paul de Villiers has been brilliant in the No 6 jersey in his absence and coach Rassie Erasmus will have no qualms about starting him against the All Blacks should it be necessary, but the Boks would prefer to start against the Kiwis with their established leader at the helm.

Also expected to return to action against Argentina is the physically imposing lock Lood de Jager. One year younger than Etzebeth and two years younger than Kolisi, who is 35, De Jager has spent considerable time on the sidelines over the past few years, but there can be no denying the impact he has when he is present.

Indeed, it was when De Jager was introduced from the bench in the second test that the Boks swung the 2021 British and Irish Lions series their way, and the currently Japan-based behemoth still has that capability.

Apart from the old guard, there will also be scrutiny on younger players coming back from injury, such as Ethan Hooker, who the All Blacks won’t remember with much fondness given how he tormented them in the second half of the Boks’ record 43-10 win over the Kiwis in Wellington last year.

STORMERS GAME A CHANCE FOR KIWIS TO FINE-TUNE

The All Blacks were really good in their last Nations Championship game against Ireland two weeks ago and the smart money will be on coach Dave Rennie sticking with the core of that team for the opening test, but the tour games building up to Ellis Park will give him an opportunity to run his eye over alternatives.

As Stormers coach John Dobson has been quoted as saying, the timing of the games from the perspective of the local teams is hardly ideal. All of them are just starting their pre-season, with the URC only set to start at the end of September.

However, while rustiness, match fitness and battle hardness will be an issue, all four of the URC clubs have pledged to go in with their strongest teams in the tour games, and someone like Stormers No 8 Evan Roos, who was one of the players discarded by the Boks at the end of the Championship leg, has plenty to prove.

Warm-up test: Argentina v South Africa (Buenos Aires, Saturday 8 August, 9pm)

All Black Tour itinerary

Friday 7 August

DHL Stormers v All Blacks (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town 7.10pm)

Tuesday 11 August

Hollywoodbets Sharks v All Blacks (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban 7.10pm)

Saturday 15 August

Vodacom Bulls v All Blacks (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 7.10pm)

Saturday 22 August

First test: South Africa v New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg 5.10pm)

Tuesday 25 August

 ADT Fidelity Lions v All Blacks (Ellis Park, Johannesburg 7.10pm)