Springboks v Los Pumas - The Hard Numbers

South Africa host Argentina in their opening match of The Rugby Championship at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth where they have enjoyed recent success. No one knows how good the Springboks will be this time around, but most are predicting they will be too good for the Argentinians. Read on for all the top stats…

• Argentina have won two of their last five games against South Africa after having won none of the previous 19 encounters between the two nations (D1, L18); they’ll also be searching for consecutive wins against the Springboks for the first time.
• South Africa are undefeated from their previous four fixtures at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (W3, D1), restricting their opponents to just 10 points per game on average at the venue.
• Argentina will be searching for back-to-back wins for the first time since June 2016 after a 45-29 win against Georgia earlier this year.
• South Africa head into the game on the back of a three-game series whitewash against France, the last time they won more games in succession was a four-game streak during the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
• However, the Springboks have lost seven of their last nine games in The Rugby Championship, including their heaviest home defeat ever in their last such match (15-57 v New Zealand).
• Argentina enjoyed the most time in possession of any team in The Rugby Championship 2016 (17m 12s per game), as well as boasting the best ruck success rate (96%) of any of the four nations.
• Juan Manuel Leguizamon (77) is poised to equal Pedro Sporleder (78) as the third most capped forward in Pumas history; only Rolando Martin (86) and Mario Ledesma Arocena (84) have played more.
• Facundo Isa made 85 carries in last year’s edition of the tournament, 15 more than any other player, while he gained the most metres of any forward (361).
• Jean-Luc du Preez is yet to miss a tackle for South Africa, he made 28/28 against France during the June Test Series, the most of any player to maintain a 100% success rate.
• Nicolas Sanchez was successful with 20 of 23 attempts at goal in The Rugby Championship 2016, giving him the best goal success rate (87%) of any player to have made more than three attempts.