Overview
- South Africa beat Argentina 17-10 in Buenos Aires on Saturday in a match used mainly to give returning players match minutes and assess fitness.
- Captain Siya Kolisi left the game with a hamstring problem and is awaiting scans to determine how it will affect selection for the Tests.
- Commentators and coaches highlighted specific tactical faults in the game, notably contestable kicking that either went too long or dropped onto Bok heads and a blunt attacking cohesion that reduced forward momentum.
- Former coach Nick Mallett and others warned New Zealand’s faster, lower-kicking style could limit South Africa’s scrum opportunities, making accurate contestable kicking and cohesion more urgent to fix.
- Coach Rassie Erasmus will keep an expanded squad of roughly 41–44 players and use upcoming provincial midweek fixtures to finalise selections ahead of the first Test at Ellis Park on 22 August.