The tightest Rugby Championship campaign in history continues on Saturday when Argentina welcome world champions South Africa to Buenos Aires.
Originally scheduled to take place at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium, the poor state of the pitch at that venue has forced the crucial showdown to be switched instead to the Estadio Libertadores de America.
Match preview
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The dream of a first-ever Rugby Championship crown remains alive for Argentina, although to achieve it they will probably need back-to-back wins over the World Cup holders.
All four teams had won two and lost two and were separated by just one point heading into the final two rounds of the competition, but New Zealand's controversial and hugely-dramatic 39-37 victory over Australia on Thursday has put them in the driving seat.
The All Blacks now sit five points - a bonus-point win - clear of both South Africa and Argentina, making Saturday's meeting between the two nations a must-win for both.
As usual in this fixture, Argentina will go into the game as underdogs, but they have more reason than usual to be optimistic of their chances, having already claimed the scalps of Australia and New Zealand in memorable fashion this year.
It is only the second time that they have ever won multiple games in a Rugby Championship campaign, and if they can complete the set by also conquering South Africa then Michael Cheika's side must be regarded as serious contenders for the trophy heading into the final round of fixtures.
That is a big 'if', though, and had anyone within the Pumas setup begun to get carried away following their historic win over New Zealand last month, they were quickly brought back down to earth one week later.
New Zealand exacted revenge in brutal fashion as they hammered Cheika's men 53-3 in Hamilton last time out, running in seven tries without reply as Argentina suffered their heaviest defeat to the All Blacks for more than 25 years.
Such a pummelling has been a one-off in this year's tournament, though, so while the visit of the world champions will pose another huge test, Argentina will be confident of giving a better account of themselves.
South Africa themselves recovered from a desperately disappointing performance against Australia to win 24-8 in the second meeting of their double-header last time out, dominating the Wallabies en route to a bonus-point triumph.
The Sydney success saw the Springboks secure their first win in Australia for nine years, with Canan Moodie's debut try a particular highlight.
Despite heading into this match sitting third in the Rugby Championship table, many may consider South Africa to be favourites for the crown, especially after seeing New Zealand run so close by Australia on Thursday.
Bonus-point wins for the Springboks in both of their matches against Argentina would be enough to clinch the title if the All Blacks fail to do the same in their final game.
However, while maximum points against Argentina were once an expectation, they are now far from certain and Los Pumas will be lying in wait to punish any complacency from their visitors.
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Team News
Cheika has made seven changes to his starting XV for this match following the heavy defeat last time out.
Four of those come in the pack, with a new prop pairing of Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Eduardo Bello, the latter of whom will start a Test match for the first time at tighthead.
Matias Alemanno comes in for Guido Petti at second-row, while Juan Martin Gonzalez - scorer of three tries already in this year's Rugby Championship - returns at flanker.
In the backs, Gonzalo Bertranou returns at nine as Santiago Carreras misses out through injury, while Jeronimo de la Fuente and Lucio Cinti also come back in.
Emiliano Boffelli will be looking to reclaim his standing as the leading points-scorer in the Rugby Championship, having slipped one point behind New Zealand counterpart Richie Mo'unga following Thursday's match.
South Africa, meanwhile, have named an unchanged starting lineup, with the only alterations from head coach Jacques Nienaber coming in the replacements.
Faf de Klerk is back on the bench, while Elrigh Louw and Andre Esterhuizen have also been called up to the matchday squad. Veteran second-row Eben Etzebeth will face Argentina for the 18th time - more than any other South African in history.
While the visitors are unchanged from last time out, they are still without several key players as Lukhanyo Am, Handre Pollard, Bongi Mbonambi and Cheslin Kolbe miss out through injury.
Elton Jantjies is also unavailable after being sent home for disciplinary reasons.
Argentina starting lineup:
15. Juan Cruz Mallia; 14. Emiliano Boffelli, 13. Jeronimo de la Fuente, 12. Matias Orlando, 11. Lucio Cinti; 10. Santiago Carreras, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou; 8. Pablo Matera, 7. Marcos Kremer, 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5. Tomas Lavanini, 4. Matias Alemanno, 3. Eduardo Bello, 2. Julian Montoya, 1. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:
Agustin Kremer, Thomas Gallo, Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti, Rodrigo Bruni, Tomas Cubelli, Benjamin Urdapilleta
South Africa starting lineup:
15. Willie le Roux; 14. Canan Moodie, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Makazole Mapimpi; 10. Damian Willemse, 9. Jaden Hendrikse; 8. Jasper Wiese, 7. Franco Mostert, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Lood de Jager, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:
Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Frans Steyn, Andre Esterhuizen
Head To Head
This will be the 33rd Test meeting between the two sides since their first such showdown in 1993, and South Africa have unsurprisingly dominated the rivalry over the years.
Argentina have only ever won three of those meetings, with one draw and 29 South Africa victories, including each of the last four.
Los Pumas' last win over the Springboks came in 2018, while their last meeting on Argentinian soil saw South Africa run out 46-13 winners in 2019.
We say: South Africa to win
Argentina should not be underestimated in this match and their historic victories over Australia and New Zealand are proof enough that they have the quality to pull off another upset this time around.
That said, South Africa know that only a win - and likely a bonus-point win - will do for their title hopes, and so we expect the Springboks to come out all guns blazing.
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Barney Corkhill
