Cape Town - With the eye on next year's Rugby World Cup, former Springbok captain John Smit says it is important for the Boks to beat the All Blacks in this year's Rugby Championship.
Under the guidance of Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks have lost four Tests on the trot against the All Blacks.
Their last win came in Port Elizabeth in 2011, when Peter de Villiers was still the coach.
The Boks are scheduled to meet the All Blacks at the semi-final stage at next year's World Cup in England, and Smit feels they must beat them now in order to go into the event confident.
"You don't want to enter a World Cup tournament without beating New Zealand. Now is the time," Smit told Die Burger.
Before the semi-finals of next year's showpiece event, South Africa could face either Australia, Wales or England in the quarter-finals.
In this year's Rugby Championship, the Boks tackle the Kiwis on September 13 (Wellington) and October 4 (Johannesburg).
They face Argentina in Salta this Saturday (kick-off 21:40 SA time).
Teams:
Argentina:
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo; 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Paul Matera, 5 Thomas Lavanini, 4 Mariano Galarza, 3-Ramiro Herrera 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Substitutes: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Horacio Agulla
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Lwazi Mvovo
Under the guidance of Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks have lost four Tests on the trot against the All Blacks.
Their last win came in Port Elizabeth in 2011, when Peter de Villiers was still the coach.
The Boks are scheduled to meet the All Blacks at the semi-final stage at next year's World Cup in England, and Smit feels they must beat them now in order to go into the event confident.
"You don't want to enter a World Cup tournament without beating New Zealand. Now is the time," Smit told Die Burger.
Before the semi-finals of next year's showpiece event, South Africa could face either Australia, Wales or England in the quarter-finals.
In this year's Rugby Championship, the Boks tackle the Kiwis on September 13 (Wellington) and October 4 (Johannesburg).
They face Argentina in Salta this Saturday (kick-off 21:40 SA time).
Teams:
Argentina:
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo; 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Paul Matera, 5 Thomas Lavanini, 4 Mariano Galarza, 3-Ramiro Herrera 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Substitutes: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Horacio Agulla
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Lwazi Mvovo