Stats & Facts: South Africa v Argentina

A look at the head to head stats and facts for the second game of the Rugby Championship.

SOUTH AFRICA v ARGENTINA – NELSON MANDELA BAY STADIUM, PORT ELIZABETH – KO 17:05 (16:05 BST)

Head to head

Played: 30 – South Africa leads 26-3 with one draw

Points for: South Africa 1,058 / Argentina 594 (Avg. score: 35-19)

Highest score: South Africa 73 (73-13 on 17 August, 2013) / Argentina 37 (37-25 on 8 August, 2015)

Biggest winning margin: South Africa 60 (73-13 on 17 August, 2013) / Argentina 13 (32-19 on 25 August,2018)

First met: 6 November, 1993 – South Africa 29-26 Argentina – Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires

Last met: 17 August, 2019 – South Africa 24-18 Argentina – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Debut as referee: 10 June, 2017 – Canada 0-13 Georgia
Tests as referee: 15

• Andrew Brace makes his Rugby Championship debut as a referee
• This is the first time he has taken charge of a match featuring the world champion Springboks
• He has only refereed Argentina once, a 23-10 loss at home to Wales in June 2018
• His last test as referee was England’s 43-29 win v USA at Twickenham last month

Match facts and stats

• South Africa and Argentina will meet again at the same venue next weekend, when Los Pumas will be regarded as the home team by tournament organisers SANZAAR

• South Africa won The Rugby Championship the last time it was held as a four-team competition in 2019 – their only win since the current format was introduced in 2012

• They did not play in 2020 with the competition reverting to its previous Tri-Nations name

• Argentina have finished bottom of The Rugby Championship every year bar 2015 when the Springboks propped up the table instead

• Los Pumas’ last visit to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth was in August 2017 and ended in a 37-15 defeat against South Africa

• South Africa have never been beaten in six previous matches at the ground (W5, D1)

• Argentina are unbeaten in their last four matches, having beaten Wales and Romania and drawn with Wales and Australia in that run

• Three of Argentina’s last six matches have ended in draws, against Australia (twice) and Wales

• Argentina achieved their first victory against Wales since 2012 in their last match, a 33-11 win in Cardiff

• South Africa come into this match on the back of a 2-1 series win over the British and Irish Lions – the same result as the last time they faced the Lions in 2009

• The Springboks only conceded two tries to the Lions across the test series and have only seen their line breached six times in their last 11 tests

• South Africa have won their last five home matches against Los Pumas, dating back to Argentina’s 37-25 win in Durban in 2015

• That was Los Pumas’ first-ever win against the Springboks at the 20th attempt

• They have won twice more since, but both matches were on Argentinian soil

• Hooker Joseph Dweba will make his Springbok debut as Jacques Nienaber opts to make 12 changes to the match-day squad that won the third test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town last Saturday

• Nienaber has made 10 changes to the starting line-up, which features a fresh backline and front row, and two changes on the bench

• The only players to retain their starting spots are captain and flanker Siya Kolisi, second-rows Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, number eight Jasper Wiese and scrum-half Cobus Reinach

• Ox Nché has recovered from his neck injury to take his place in the front-row alongside Dweba and fellow prop Wilco Louw. The other change in the starting pack sees Kwagga Smith replace Franco Mostert at blindside flank

• Fly-half Elton Jantjies accompanies Reinach at half-back, while Frans Steyn and Jesse Kriel will join forces in the midfield in place of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am

• The other changes in the backline see Damian Willemse replace Willie le Roux at full-back, while Sbu Nkosi and Aphelele Fassi – who made his Springbok debut against Georgia last month – will start on the wing in place of Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi respectively

• Argentina only make one change from the team that beat Wales in Cardiff last month, with Felipe Ezcurra getting the starting scrum-half duties instead of Tomas Cubelli, who drops out of the matchday 23 altogether. Gonzalo Bertranou provides the scrum-half cover on this occasion

• Prop Carlos Muzzio is named on the bench and is in line to make his Los Pumas debut.

• Fly-half Nicolás Sánchez is set to make his 88th test appearance and become Argentina’s second most-capped player in his own right. Agustin Creevy currently holds the record with 89 caps