Despite South Africa’s disappointing defeat against New Zealand during the semi-finals of The Rugby World Cup 2015 last Saturday, The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is convinced the tournament has been a developmental process for the team. While senior players brought to a close a successful era of South African rugby, young and exciting players were also afforded the chance to showcase their abilities.

SARU has supported Boks coach, Heykene Meyer’s strong conviction that the team will end the tournament on a high note by taking the bronze metal when they go up against Argentina at Twickenham on Friday.

“Heyeke has called on the strongest team for this World Cup. The Springboks have put out a very experienced side. Coach Meyer believes that ending this Rugby World Cup on a high note is crucial for the team,” says general and corporate affairs manager Andy Colquhoun.

Boks captain, Fourie Du Plessis and lock, Lood de Jager will both be absent from the game due to injuries sustained during the game against The All Blacks. Du Plessis suffered a blow to the face and is currently recovering. Meyer believes this will not be an obstacle for a team composed of strong players. Du Plessis has been replaced by Ruan Pienaar and Victor Matfield with De Jager.

Younger players like Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel and Handre Pollard have showcased their ability as strong contenders in the tournament.

Pollard in particular has proven his value to the team.

“Pollard never misses a penalty kick and the majority of the scores have been of penalty tries,” says Colquhoun.

Spectators predict that with Pollard’s performances, he has proven himself to be a pivotal role player.

“Pollard has not made speculations as him as a future leader as a fallacy,” says Colquhoun.

Their development throughout this season will assist the Boks to secure a win.Top of Form

TEAMS:

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein

Argentina

15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolas Sanchez (captain), 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matas Alemanno, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Marcos Ayerza

Substitutes: 16 Lucas Noguera, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Juan Pablo Socino

The game will be screened at 8pm on SABC2.