Cape Town - Barbarians coach Rassie Erasmus hopes Saturday’s match against Argentina at Twickenham will provide his players with the platform to express their individual skills.

The Springbok mentor, who picked 13 South Africans in his match-day squad, said it was not easy to prepare the team in one week but he believes there is enough talent within the squad to be competitive.

“It’s tough to get the structure going in one week, but we know the open play will work with the amount of talent we have here. It would be stupid to try and over-coach with silly sessions. I think every player here has got some X-factor, something that is his point of difference.

“I would like to see that come out, we will have a basic structure that will just allow them to try and do that. But while saying that, winning your scrum, getting your lineouts, getting your kick-offs... that’s vital if you want to perform against a team like Argentina,” Erasmus said.

New Zealand prop Wyatt Crockett was made captain and Erasmus said he did not have to think long before making the decision.

“We just took the oldest guy and said, ‘you’re the captain’. He’s been a great player and he’s finishing up and he’s not only done so much for New Zealand rugby, but also world rugby,” Erasmus said of the 35-year-old Crockett.

Saturday’s match is scheduled for 16:30 (SA time).

Teams:

Barbarians  

15 Jack Debreczeni (Chiefs), 14 Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton & Italy), 13 Tom English (Rebels & Australia), 12 Damian de Allende (Stormers & South Africa), 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi (Lions & South Africa), 10 Handre Pollard (Bulls & South Africa), 9 Leon Fukofuka (Auckland & Tonga), 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Jaguares & Argentina), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers & South Africa), 6 Siya Kolisi (Stormers & South Africa), 5 Lood de Jager (Bulls & South Africa), 4 Luke Jones (Bordeaux Begles & Australia), 3 Trevor Nyakane (Bulls & South Africa), 2 Schalk Brits (South Africa), 1 Wyatt Crockett (Crusaders & New Zealand, captain)

Substitutes: 16 Steven Kitshoff (Stormers & South Africa), 17 Malcolm Marx (Lions & South Africa), 18 Anton Peikrishvili (Cardiff Blues & Georgia), 19 Sikhumbuzo Notshe (Stormers & South Africa), 20 Jordan Taufua (Crusaders), 21 Frank Lomani (Rebels & Fiji), 22 Jesse Kriel (Bulls & South Africa), 23 Elton Jantjies (Lions & South Africa)

Argentina

15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julian Montoya, 1  Juan Pablo Zeiss.

Substitutes: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Santiago Grondova, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 23 Santiago Carreras