Rugby Test Match 2026 – Argentina vs South Africa – ARN Guide

Argentina play host to South Africa in Buenos Aires on Saturday. The fixture comes as a friendly international with there being no Rugby Championship played this year. It is to be the only test match between Los Pumas and the Springboks in 2026.

The fixture is the fifth between the teams since South Africa successfully lifted the William Webb Ellis Cup at the Stade de France after the Rugby World Cup 2023 Final. South Africa has gone from strength-to-strength since then to be firmly ranked the world No. 1.

The Springboks have a 17-4 win-loss record since the Rugby World Cup 2023 Final. On the one hand, three of the seventeen wins have been against Los Pumas. On the other hand, Argentina’s win in Santiago del Estero in 2024 is one of only four losses suffered by the world champions during this period.

South Africa remains undefeated in 2026 meaning a Pumas victory would make Argentina the first team to beat the Springboks this year. It would also make Argentina the first team to defeat South Africa twice during since the Rugby World Cup 2023 Final.

Los Pumas’ 29-18 win over South Africa in 2024 followed Ireland’s 25-24 win over the Springboks two months earlier in Durban. The remaining two Springboks’ defeats came in the 2025 Rugby Championship. Australia were 38-22 winners at Ellis Park in Johannesburg and New Zealand extended their multiple-decades-long streak at Eden Park by winning 24-17.

The reason as to why there is no Rugby Championship in 2026 comes down to decision  making from New Zealand and South Africa to go it alone. South Africa and New Zealand decided to break away from the four country alliance to contest “The Greatest Rugby Rivalry” in 2026. The outcome is that the Rugby Championship will be biennial rather than an annual after 2025 and that the next normal Rugby Championship will next be in 2029.

 

FORM GUIDE

Current World Ranking: 7 (83.13 points)

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Venue
July 04, 2026	Scotland	Lost	38-47	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba
July 11, 2026	Wales	Won	35–21	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan
July 18, 2026	England	Lost	24–31	Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero

 

Current World Ranking: 1 (93.96 points)

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Venue
June 20, 2026	Barbarians	Won	80–31	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
July 4, 2026	England	Won	45–21	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
July 11, 2026	Scotland	Won	42–28	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
July 18, 2026	Wales	Won	43–0	Kings Park, Durban

 

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
1	Boris Wenger	Mayco Vivas
2	Ignacio Ruiz	Julián Montoya
3	Francisco Moreno	Tomás Rapetti
5	Tomás Lavanini	Matías Alemanno
6	Pablo Matera	Santiago Grondona
7	Benjamín Grondona	Marcos Kremer
8	Joaquín Moro	Joaquín Oviedo
9	Simón Benítez Cruz	Gonzalo García
10	Santiago Carreras	Tomás Albornoz
11	Ignacio Mendy	Mateo Carreras
12	Faustino Sánchez Valarolo	Justo Piccardo
13	Lucio Cinti	Matías Moroni
14	Rodrigo Isgró	Bautista Delguy
15	Gerónimo Prisciantelli	Santiago Carreras
	IN	OUT
1	Boan Venter	Gerhard Steenekamp
2	Johan Grobbelaar	Malcolm Marx
3	Thomas du Toit	Carlu Sadie
4	Eben Etzebeth	Cobus Wiese
5	Lood de Jager	Ruben van Heerden
6	Siya Kolisi	Paul de Villiers
7	Elrigh Louw	Pieter-Steph du Toit
8	Cameron Hanekom	Jasper Wiese
10	Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu	Vusi Moyo
11	Ethan Hooker	Kurt-Lee Arendse
12	André Esterhuizen	Damian de Allende
13	Canan Moodie	Jesse Kriel
14	Edwill van der Merwe	Jaco Williams

 

DEBUT

– Leonel Oviedo (HK), Francisco Moreno (TH), Juan Penoucos (FL), Juan Martín Scelzo (No. 8)

 

+  MOST CAPS

– Pablo Matera (124), Guido Petti (101), Matías Moroni (97), Tomás Lavanini (91), Santiago Carreras (67), Mayco Vivas (42), Ignacio Ruiz (30)

– Eben Etzebeth (141), Suya Kolisi (103), Handré Pollard (86), Lood de Jager (73), Cobus Reinach (52), Marco van Staden (35), Thomas du Toit (35)

+ LEAST CAPS

– Benjamín Grondona (2), Faustino Sánchez Valarolo (2), Efraí Elías (3), Gerónimo Prisciantelli (4), Ignacio Mendy (5), Joaquín Moro (5), Tomás Rapetti (6), Boris Wenger (8), Agustín Moyano (9)

– Cameron Hanekom (2), Cobus Wiese (4), Zachary Porthen (5), Edwill van der Merwe (6), Morne van der Mrewe (6), Boan Venter (9), Johan Grobbelaar (9)

+ NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Thomas Gallo (LH), Bautista Bernasconi (HK), Julián Montoya (HK), Eduardo Bello (TH), Joel Sclavi (TH), Franco Molina (LO), Matías Alemanno (LO), Pedro Rubiolo (LO), Juan Martín González (FL), Santiago Grondona (FL), Marcos Kremer (FL), Joaquin Oviedo (NO. 8), Gonzalo García (SH), Tomás Albornoz (FH), Santiago Chocobares (CE), Justo Piccardo (CE), Mateo Carreras (WI), Bautista Delguy (WI), Benjamín Elizalde (FB), Juan Cruz Mallía (FB)

– Ox Nche (LO), Malcolm Marx (HO), Frans Malherbe (TH), Franco Mostert (LO), Pieter-Steph du Toit (FL), Jesse Kriel (CE), Cheslin Kolbe (WI), Damian Willemse (FB)

 

NOTES

• The match will be the 5th test match between Argentina and South Africa at Vélez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires. The Springboks are unbeaten at the ground, winning 39-7 in 2004, 34-23 in 2005, 26-12 in 2015 and 24-13 in 2023.
• The match marks the 40 year anniversary of Los Pumas playing at Vélez Sarsfield.
• Felipe Contepomi did not debut any players in July but four will debut against the world champions on Saturday. Francisco Moreno starts at tight head and will become Puma #909. Leonel Oviedo, Juan Penoucos, and Juan Martín Scelzo await their opportunities as replacements.
• Leonel Oviedo is the older brother of Pumas No. 8 Joaquín Oviedo.
• Juan Martín Scelzo is the son of Rugby World Cup 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 tight head Martín Scelzo.
• Tomás Lavanini makes his return after a two-year absence. He will earn his 92nd cap for Argentina. Lavanini and Guido Petti lock the scrum together as they did twelve years ago when Argentina defeated South Africa for the first time. The Petti-Lavanini combination is Argentina’s most utilized lock duo of all-time.
• Santiago Carreras moves from fullback to fly half with Gerónimo Prisciantelli starting at fullback. This marks a reverse from the prior meeting wherein Carreras was fullback and Prisciantelli fly half.
• Santiago Carreras is vice-captain with Pablo Matera leading the team in place of the missing Julián Montoya. Carreras and Guido Petti are the only two surviving starting players from Argentina’s most recent match.
• Santiago Grondona is another missing Pumas forward. He started for Argentina in the aforementioned previous match against South Africa. His brother, Benjamín Grondona, joins Matera this time around.
• Siya Kolisi returns to captain South Africa in his 104th cap.
• In addition to Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morné van den Berg also all return from injury.
• André Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker are back from minor injuries during the Nations Championship.
• The South African team has 13 changes from the team that nilled Wales in July. Only Aphelele Fassi and Cobus Reinach keep their starting spots.
• The line-up is heavy on established names with no debutants. By way of comparison, Rassie Erasus handed out test debuts to Vusi Moyo, and Carlu Sadie, Ruben van Heerden, and Jaco Williams against Wales.
• The Argentina vs South Africa rivalry was a late arrival, as their first official test match did not take place until 1993.
• The teams met just thirteen times before the old Tri Nations tournament was rebranded as the Rugby Championship to welcome Argentina in 2012.
• The Rugby Championship intensified the rivalry, establishing a regular cadence where the teams faced each other twice a year. Even when World Cup cycles shortened the official tournament schedule the unions scheduled additional test matches to maintain their annual home-and-away tradition aside from in 2020. During this era, Los Pumas earned their historic first win in 2015 and their most recent one in 2024.
• The average scoreline across all 40 matches is South Africa 35-20 Argentina.
• France’s Pierre Brousset had been appointed referee. An injury means Christophe Ridley has been assigned in his place.
• The winning captain will lift the Copa Visa Galicia.

 

PREDICTION

Felipe Contepomi’s game plan is built around forward density. Los Pumas will look to utilize the raw power of forwards. On the ground, the defensive strategy is to slow down South Africa’s ruck speed to a crawl, using the breakdown ferocity of Pablo Matera and Benjamín Grondona to prevent the visitors from finding any attacking rhythm. Fly-half Santiago Carreras will look to pull the trigger on chaotic, high-risk attacking phases rather than structured phase-play. Rassie Erasmus has chosen absolute tactical continuity, signaling total confidence in a game plan centered around rapid transition and territory. South Africa’s absolute top priority is maintaining a lightning-fast ruck speed. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will execute a mixture of flair and a highly aggressive, contestable kicking strategy to bypass the Pumas’ midfield and outside defense. South Africa are favorites to win in Buenos Aires.

 

LINE-UPS

ARGENTINA
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Benjamín Grondona, 8 Joaquín Moro, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli

Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Juan Penoucos, 21 Juan Martín Scelzo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Matías Moroni

SOUTH AFRICA
1 Boan Venter, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Elrigh Louw, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ethan Hooker, 12 André Esterhuizen, 13 Canan Moodie, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 15 Aphelele Fassi

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Handre Pollard

 

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, August 08
Kickoff: 4:00pm (Argentina), South Africa 9:00pm.
Venue: Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires (AR)
Broadcasts: ESPN, Disney + (AR), SuperSport (ZA)
Weather Forecast: Sunny; 14°C; Wind 23 km/h

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Luc Ramos (France), Craig Evans (Wales)
Television Match Official: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Split Screen/FPRO: Ian Tempest (England)

 

HISTORY vs (1993-2025)

 

HEAD TO HEAD vs

South Africa Wins 35
Argentina Wins 4
Draws 1