Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx anticipated a massive battle against Argentina in Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship finale at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit at 17:00 (SA Time) where both teams will be vying for the title, but he said they were ready for the challenge.
The Boks suffered a heart-breaking 29-28 defeat against the Pumas in Santiago del Estero last weekend and Marx said they are determined not to make the same errors this time around.
The Springboks need only one point from the match or suffer a defeat without Argentina claiming a bonus point to clinch their first title since 2019 and their fifth ever in the competition, and Marx was excited about the possibility.
“They had a great game last week and this is the first time that they beat the Springboks, New Zealand and Australia in one season,” said Marx.
“This is also the first time they are in the running for the title, so it’s going to be an epic challenge, but we are looking forward to it. They are difficult to contain. They stepped me once or twice last week, so they have good players who really bring the game to you.
“That said, we’ve trained hard this week, and we know what we have to correct from last week and do this week to pull things through.”
Looking back at last week’s performance, Marx said the Boks "slacked off" in some areas of the game for some reason.
"But we had a good review of the game, and we identified where we can improve this week," he said.
“We started off well and were unable to maintain that intensity until the end in Argentina, so it’s vital that we play for the full 80 minutes.
“That said, we know how tough it’s going to be to come away with a win this week, so we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead.”
Marx said while Argentina was a physical team, all the participating teams in the competition brought their own sense of physicality.
“The Pumas are always physical, but I won’t say one of the teams is more physical than the other (referring to Australia and New Zealand),” said Marx.
“They just play different types of rugby, but each one of them always delivers a tough challenge.”
