With 13 changes to the starting XV that beat Wales, Erasmus has used the Buenos Aires fixture as a rotation exercise with one eye firmly on the All Blacks series. The standout selection news is Feinberg-Mngomezulu's return from the ankle injury that kept him out of the entire Nations Championship — he slots straight back in at flyhalf, and his performance will carry serious weight in the selection conversation ahead of the Greatest Rivalry Tests. Kolisi's return at openside is similarly significant after Erasmus shut down any suggestion that Paul de Villiers had permanently displaced him. The Etzebeth–De Jager lock pairing is also back after both missed the Nations Championship through injury, which meaningfully deepens a second-row pool that had been stretched dangerously thin.
Fassi keeps the 15 jersey despite an error-riddled display against Wales, which leaves Quan Horn — along with Herschel Jantjies and Wilco Louw — as the unlucky trio cut from the matchday squad entirely. The piece identifies Horn's omission as particularly harsh given his solid cameos at both fullback and flyhalf. Elsewhere, Hanekom and Louw get starting opportunities to press for Rugby Championship spots, while Van den Berg's return from a serious bicep injury earns him the bench scrumhalf role over the more experienced Jantjies. Worth reading in full for the granular breakdown of every selection call and what each means for the All Blacks squad.