MotoGP : Bezzecchi frappe fort et vole un record à Quartararo

Skipper Ruhan Nel says the Stormers walked away from Friday’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry defeat by the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium with plenty of lessons.

The hosts leaked six tries in a 38-21 loss, after trailing 14-7 at half-time. John Dobson’s men, still in pre-season and last in action in the Vodacom URC semi-final loss to Leinster on 6 June, are next up against Connacht in their URC opener on 25 September.

Nel admitted the intensity of the contest exposed the Capetonians’ defensive system to a level of pressure rarely felt outside of Test rugby.

ICYMI: ‘Remarkable’ duel comes at a cost for Stormers

“After the first 10 minutes, it’s really quick. They shift the ball well through the hands, and they find space easily,” the seasoned centre said. “The way you tackle them, if you can’t create yourself two to three seconds, you’re immediately under pressure.

“When they get momentum … you know the kick is not coming, you know the run is coming. It’s definitely a cut from a different cloth than what we’ve faced over the last couple of months, or couple of years.”

The Stormers’ blitz defence, pioneered by Jacques Nienaber and refined by Norman Laker, was tested to its limits, something Nel welcomed as valuable preparation.

RENNIE: We got rewards from SA introduction

“I told Norman on the field, ‘that’s exactly how it should be’. You need to feel like you’re playing against an international team. It was great for our defensive system to be put under that pressure.

“It’s good lessons for us to learn going forward with teams like Leinster and Glasgow that scored off a lot of passes as well, and how to slow that down.”

On whether this was a game that the Stormers should’ve won, he added: “No one actually gave us a chance before this. Am I surprised by the result? No, I’m not – it’s the All Blacks.

“There was an opportunity or two out there that if we handled it a bit better, we could’ve probably sat here singing a different song.”

RECAP: All Blacks battle past Stormers

Nel also reflected on the emotion of leading the Stormers out for such a historic occasion.

“There’s not a lot of the boys who have had the opportunity to sing the national anthem before a game. Also hearing the New Zealand anthem before you sing your own… You feel like you’re part of something bigger.

“I was telling myself I’m going to sing and then the moment the anthem started, I was like, no, I’m going to keep my mouth shut otherwise I’m going to cry,” he shared.

“We stepped up to the occasion as well… to face the haka was something special, and that we’re fortunate to be a part of.”

Photo: Reuters/Esa Alexander

The post Nel: Stormers got schooled appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

The Springboks have insisted all week that their only focus is on Argentina, but there is no doubt that the upcoming four-Test series against the All Blacks will still have plenty of relevance in the greater scheme of things.

Among a host of returning players from injury, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will join the likes of Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Morne van den Berg in the starting line-up.

“Not being able to help my team was frustrating, and the Springbok equation was even worse,” he said.

“But I used the time to look at the game from a more technical aspect, and develop in the areas that I probably didn’t have time to work on before. Obviously, it was disastrous when it happened and it wasn’t enjoyable, but I made the most of the time off.”

The Springboks-Argentina Test will be hosted at Estadio José Amalfitani in the Argentinean capital, kicks off at 21:00 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

FOLLOW THE SPRINGBOKS-ARGENTINA LIVE SCORING BELOW

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

ARGENTINA – 15 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Joaquín Moro, 7 Benjamin Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Boris Wenger.
Subs: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Ephraim Elijah, 20 Juan Penoucos, 21 Juan Martín Scelzo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Matías Moroni.

Bok record against Argentina:
Played 40; Won 35; Lost 4; Drawn 1; Points for: 1 411, Points against: 784; Tries scored 167, Tries conceded 76; Highest score 73-13; Biggest winning margin 60 points. Win % 87.5%.

Miscellaneous:

• The Springboks have won 12 of their last 14 matches against the Pumas, dating back to 2018, with their only two defeats being in Argentina, in Santiago Del Estero (2024) and in Mendoza (in 2018).
• The Springboks remain unbeaten against Los Pumas in Buenos Aires dating back to 1993, although there have been some tight scores between the teams in South America.
• Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, and Morne van den Berg will all play their first Test matches of the 2026.
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 142 Tests when he takes the field on Saturday.
• The last time the teams met in Argentina was in 2024, when the Springboks went down 29-28 in Santiago del Estero.
• The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 541. There are 157 caps in the backline, with 384 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 176 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 22, the forwards 48, while the players on the bench average 22.