Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer faces a test of nerve this week as the pressure on him and the team mounts after four successive Test defeats.
On Saturday the Boks slumped to their first Test loss against Argentina, when they were hammered 37-25 in Durban. It left the Boks winless in the Rugby Championship for the first time in the competition's history.
It was also their fourth straight Test loss and their fifth in seven Tests since last year's tour to Ireland, Italy and Britain.
And now they have to travel to Buenos Aires to face a fired up Pumas in their final match before the World Cup, with what was supposed to be a squad made up of largely fringe players.
Pressure could force Meyer to take some senior players such as Bryan Habana, Eben Etzebeth and Bismarck du Plessis, who were originally not going to make the trip.
Meyer seemed confused, and appeared to be musing aloud as he tried to convince listeners that sticking to the World Cup plan was the right thing to do at this stage.
"We have to do what is best for the World Cup," Meyer said. "You have to take the emotion out, it is going to be even tougher next week, but the World Cup is still the big thing."
Injuries may force Meyer's hand on certain selections with flank Marcell Coetzee, fullback Willie le Roux and centre and captain Jean de Villiers ruled out of the match.
The Boks could equal their worst sequence of successive defeats since readmission to Test rugby in 1992, five, if they lose to the Pumas in Buenos Aires.
It's a situation that could leave huge mental scarring so close to the World Cup.
But to abandon a plan that involved leaving several key players behind to work on fitness and tactics would also be a sign of panic and of Meyer's nerve cracking.
Pressure to mount on Heyneke
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer faces a test of nerve this week as the pressure on him and the team mounts after four successive Test defeats.
On Saturday the Boks slumped to their first Test loss against Argentina, when they were hammered 37-25 in Durban. It left the Boks winless in the Rugby Championship for the first time in the competition's history.
It was also their fourth straight Test loss and their fifth in seven Tests since last year's tour to Ireland, Italy and Britain.
And now they have to travel to Buenos Aires to face a fired up Pumas in their final match before the World Cup, with what was supposed to be a squad made up of largely fringe players.
Pressure could force Meyer to take some senior players such as Bryan Habana, Eben Etzebeth and Bismarck du Plessis, who were originally not going to make the trip.
Meyer seemed confused, and appeared to be musing aloud as he tried to convince listeners that sticking to the World Cup plan was the right thing to do at this stage.
"We have to do what is best for the World Cup," Meyer said. "You have to take the emotion out, it is going to be even tougher next week, but the World Cup is still the big thing."
Injuries may force Meyer's hand on certain selections with flank Marcell Coetzee, fullback Willie le Roux and centre and captain Jean de Villiers ruled out of the match.
The Boks could equal their worst sequence of successive defeats since readmission to Test rugby in 1992, five, if they lose to the Pumas in Buenos Aires.
It's a situation that could leave huge mental scarring so close to the World Cup.
But to abandon a plan that involved leaving several key players behind to work on fitness and tactics would also be a sign of panic and of Meyer's nerve cracking.
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