In the absence of captain Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield is set to lead the Springboks into battle against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

The South African veteran will captain the side in the Rugby Championship encounter, which comes a week after the South Americans managed their first ever win over the Springboks in a 37-25 defeat for the home side at Kings Park in Durban.

De Villiers suffered a jaw fracture in the team’s loss to Argentina last weekend, compounding injury concerns for coach Heyneke Meyer, as the skipper will now require four to six weeks of rest to recover, meaning that he will likely recover just in time for the Rugby World Cup which begins on September 18.

This gives him no time to gain valuable game time, following a knee injury that kept him out since November, with his return only coming in recent weeks.

“I am worried about Jean. He’s recovered from his knee injury and now has the fractured jaw, and he’s one of the guys who is 50/50 at this stage for the World Cup. That is obviously a concern as he is the captain and that does weigh in the back of my mind, but right now I’m taking it day by day,” Meyer told the media, according to SuperSport.

Meyer made nine changes to the team that fell to Argentina last week, adding Matfield as captain and bringing Willem Alberts back to replace the injured Marcel Coetzee.

 

Springbok Starting XV: Zane Kirchner, Lwazi Mvovo, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana, Pat Lambie, Ruan Pienaar, Schalk Burger, Willem Alberts, Heinrich Brussow, Victor Matfield (captain), Eben Etzebeth, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane.

Replacements: Schalk Brits, Tendai Mtawarira, Frans Malherbe, Flip van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Jan Serfontein.