Rassie Erasmus has framed Saturday's 17-10 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires as a match-fitness exercise rather than a tactical rehearsal, with the four-Test home series against the All Blacks now two weeks away.
Speaking after the Springboks edged the Pumas at Estadio José Amalfitani, Erasmus acknowledged the performance was always going to be disjointed. "We had seven or eight guys who'd played almost no minutes over the last six, seven weeks, so I always thought it was going to be disjointed. We just had to get a lot of players through some match fitness."
Among those returning from injury were Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth, both of whom impressed, while Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu reunited at halfback. Kolisi started but went off after 25 minutes with a recurrence of the hamstring trouble that had kept him sidelined.
Erasmus was measured in his assessment of what the result means for New Zealand preparation. "I wouldn't say it's a good practice, honestly, because Argentina play a different style and it's very intimidating in the stadium here. Obviously, it wasn't pretty. Obviously, it wasn't perfect, but that we expected."
He identified attack as the area most in need of attention over the next fortnight, while crediting the defence and discipline as relative positives. Selection for the first Test at Ellis Park on August 22 will be shaped in part by how the returning players come through the fitness assessments that follow.
The All Blacks are on an eight-match tour of South Africa.