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Los Pumas have it all to play for in the World Ranking
By Ian Cameron
Los Pumas could jump as high as third in the World Rankings if they manage to beat South Africa well in their second Test in Port Elizabeth this weekend.
The cancellation of New Zealand's Rugby Championship match with Australia in Perth makes the fixture at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium the only major rankings modifier this weekend.
World Rugby state: "Argentina will climb two places to fourth with victory over South Africa, above Ireland and France.
If they beat the Springboks by more than 15 points, Los Pumas would jump to third – equalling their highest ever position in the rankings. The last time Argentina sat this high was in June, 2008. Mario Ledesma's side will climb above France and into fifth if they draw for the fourth time in less than a year, while they will slip back below Australia into seventh in defeat.
How likely an Argentine victory is - given the Springboks beat them 32 - 12 with a second-string team last weekend - is up for debate.
Meanwhile, it's pretty much as you were for South Africa, no matter what the outcome of the result.
"South Africa cannot lose top spot even with such an emphatic defeat as they would still hold a 2.20 rating point cushion over New Zealand. Their advantage is currently 4.91."
"South Africa can only improve their rating by a maximum of 0.29 rating points, given the 11.05 rating point difference between the sides before home weighting is factored in for Argentina."
Two of Argentina's Olympic bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020 last month have been named in the squad in Ignacio Mendy and Lucio Cinti. Mendy scored the winning try against Great Britain in the bronze medal match and now follows in the footsteps of his father Christian, who played for Los Pumas from 1987-91.
Lood de Jager becomes the fourth Springbok to reach 50 tests in 2021 after Handré Pollard, Steven Kitshoff and Damian de Allende during the British and Irish Lions series.
SA Rugby have offered to host the entirety of the rest of the Rugby Championship after the NZR unilaterally decided to suspend their involvement in the annual tournament.
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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