The Springboks will not only be playing to stay alive in The Rugby Championship when they take on Argentina in Durban this Saturday, but also for their fans, who have endured an up-and-down season from the reigning world champions.

The Citizen reports it is the Boks’ last home game of the 2025 season and coach Rassie Erasmus is keen to make the match a special one for the supporters.

Most importantly, though, the Boks need to beat the Pumas to go into the last match of the competition, the following week at Twickenham in London against the same opposition, still in with a chance of winning the trophy.

As things stand, ahead of the penultimate round of action, Australia lead the way with 11 points, followed by the Boks and All Blacks, both on 10 points, while Argentina have nine points. All four teams have won twice and lost twice.

New Zealand and Australia also face off home and away over the next two weekends.

‘We want to thank our fans’

The Boks will be upbeat ahead of this weekend’s match in Durban against the Pumas, after their record win against the All Blacks in Wellington, though Argentina also beat the Wallabies in Sydney.

“This match is significant in many ways,” said Erasmus at the weekend.

“It’s not only essential to get a good result to stay in the running to defend our title, but it’s also our last home game of the year and we want to thank our fans for their passionate support throughout the year.

“That said, we are under no illusions that it’s going to take a top-class performance to achieve our goal in this match, but we will leave no stone unturned in trying to achieve that.”

Big selection decisions

The Boks will be without injured players Aphelele Fassi, Lood de Jager and Jean-Luc du Preez, while experienced fullback Willie le Roux has been left out of the squad, though he will train with the team until Wednesday to help with preparations. Several other regular first-choice players are also absent because of injury.

Winger Cheslin Kolbe left the field early in the Wellington test, but was named in the squad for the Argentina tests, though it is not yet known if he will be available for this weekend’s match.

The good news for the Boks is they have competent back-up, as was seen in Wellington with the likes of Damian Willemse, Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie and Andre Esterhuizen all stepping up.

Jasper Wise also got through the game unscathed after playing for the first time in weeks, following his four-match ban.

The big question in the coming days is who Erasmus will pick for the Durban test, especially considering how well so many of the younger, fringe players stood up in Wellington.

The Bok boss is scheduled to name his matchday-23 tomorrow.

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