Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi shot down the favourites tag as the team prepares to face Argentina in their Castle Lager Rugby Championship decider in London on Saturday and said they expected an arm-wrestle of a match and full-out retaliation from the Pumas.
The Springboks won last week’s match against Argentina 67-30 in Durban and currently lead the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings by one point going into Saturday’s match, but despite winning their last two games with impressive scores – the other being a record 43-10 victory against the All Blacks in Wellington – Mbonambi, who has been named on the bench, expected a tough outing in London.
“If you watch last week’s game, you’ll see that it was not as easy as the score may suggest,” said Mbonambi.
“It definitely wasn’t a walk in the park in Durban, and over and above that, a lot can happen in a week in rugby, so we need to go out there and give our best on the field to get the result we want.”
Asked about being the favourites going into the match as the Boks attempt to win the tournament twice in a row for the first time, the double Rugby World Cup winner said: “We don’t focus on those opinions, we approach each game day by day. When you think you are on top, you can be humbled quickly, so we’ll respect them going into this match.
“They’ll be hurting after last week, so we have a big challenge ahead, but we’ve done our homework, and our preparation has been going well. That said, it’s definitely going to be an arm-wrestling match. We expect a proper retaliation from them on Saturday.”
With Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Marnus van der Merwe also getting an opportunity to make their presence felt at hooker this season, along with the experienced Malcolm Marx, Mbonambi was thrilled to get another opportunity to be in the match-day squad.
“It’s always an honour and privilege to be in the team; when one is not in the set-up, you really miss it,” said Mbonambi.
“There is competition in every position, but we love it, and the coaches have shown that if you are good enough, they’ll pick you. The key is that when you get your chance, you have to play as well as you can and do the job on the day.”
He added: “It’s been great to see how Jan-Hendrik and Marnus have been growing and developing as players, and the competition between everyone is fantastic.”
The Boks have Thursday off to rest and prepare mentally for the clash, and will wrap up their preparations on Friday with their official captains' run.
The match kicks off at 15:00 (SA Time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
