Edinburgh prop earns surprise South Africa promotion as Rugby Championship goes to the wire

The Edinburgh Rugby prop was initially named on the bench but following the withdrawal of Ox Nche from the team on Friday due to a niggle, Venter will begin the game.

It will be his first start in the Rugby Championship following three appearances as a replacement and he will line up in the front row alongside hooker Malcolm Marx and tighthead Thomas du Toit, with Marco van Staden being drafted onto the bench to provide loosehead cover.

Venter, 28, was called up by South Africa for the first time in June. He would have become Scottish-qualified on residency grounds next February having joined Edinburgh from the Cheetahs in 2021.

However, Rassie Erasmus sprang a surprise by naming him in the Springboks squad and he made his full South Africa debut in July, scoring a try in the win over Georgia.

“We are aware that he could have qualified for Scotland, but for us it’s not a case of denying opportunities to players abroad,” Erasmus said at the time. “We select the best players we can, and with Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mchunu nursing injuries, he was the next best player on our radar.”

South Africa lie second in the Rugby Championship standings, one point behind Australia with two rounds of fixtures remaining. It is one of the tightest contests in the competition’s history with all four sides having won two and lost two matches.

Argentina are looking to make it a hat-trick of wins against their southern hemisphere opposition having already defeated New Zealand and Australia. The Pumas are bottom of the table on nine points but are only two adrift of the leaders and still harbour hopes of a first ever Rugby Championship title.

New Zealand, who are third on 10 points, host Australia at Eden Park in the other round five fixture on Saturday. The final round games take place on October 4 and will see Argentina play South Africa at Twickenham and Australia take on New Zealand in Perth.