Buenos Aires blueprint key to another bonus-point victory for Boks, says Beast Mtawarira

In a game summarily dubbed "a game of two halves" between the Springboks and Argentina this past weekend, it is the intensity of the first half in Buenos Aires that will ensure the Boks secure a bonus-point victory on Saturday.

This is the view of retired Bok prop Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira, who is looking ahead to the final round of the Rugby Championship this weekend.

It is a traffic jam at the top of the log going into the final round and a couple of things need to go the Boks' way in the earlier All Blacks-Wallabies game for the world champions to be able to get their hand on the trophy at the end of the weekend.

"I really believe the Springboks have an awesome chance to win it on Saturday, but we still need to play well and the game they played in Buenos Aires was a great display. We probably fell asleep in the second half but were able to finish strongly," Mtawarira said during a promotional event at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday.

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Certainly, the Springboks were in control this past weekend, leading 22-6 at the break, before a spirited Los Pumas benefitted from a penalty try and a well-worked try orchestrated by a deft inside pass. The last 10 minutes were nervy for the Springboks as they held a slender two-point lead before the timely interventions of centre Damian de Allende and Malcolm Marx secured a comfortable looking win, 36-20.

The 37-year-old Mtawarira was part of the last group that won the truncated version in 2019, and he knows winning the competition doesn't come by often.

"That was my second one," he remembered with a chuckle, adding:

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber named his team on Tuesday and has reverted to a 6-2 split on the bench and Mtawarira