Pumas coach Ledesma shrugs off ref neutrality: 'Bad decisions never down to nationality'

• Argentina coach Mario Ledesma is hopeful refereeing won't dominate his team's Rugby Championship double-header against the Springboks.
• The legendary hooker is in not interested in debating whether nationality is a factor in on-field decision-making. 
• Ledesma also believes the debate over whether the Springboks play "boring" rugby is irrelevant.

Mario Ledesma admits refereeing will always be an emotive issue for any coach, but Argentina's head coach is hopeful his charges' Rugby Championship double-header with the Springboks won't be dogged by questions over officiating.

Rassie Erasmus' looming battle with World Rugby over his controversial video continues to be a talking point, understandably prompting questions over whether the issue will spill over to this year's tournament.

While South Africa's national director of rugby predominantly focused on on-field decisions, nationality and neutrality of appointed referees has also been touched on.

Irishman Andrew Brace will be the man with the whistle in Gqeberha on Saturday, with one assistant being England's Karl Dickson and TMO duties being handed to Tom Foley from Wales.

However, South Africa's AJ Jacobs will be Brace's other deputy, raising eyebrows much like British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland did with Marius Jonker previously.

But Ledesma, a 84-Test veteran, is philosophical.

"We can't pick the officials, I don't waste too much time complaining about stuff we can't change. If we could change some stuff, we would, but this is something we can't. It is what it is," the Pumas mentor said.

"I trust the impartiality of the officials, so I have no worries about that."

Whether the emotions remain in check after proceedings is another matter, even if Ledesma probably won't be posting clips on social media.

"We'll see after the game if we have complaints and we always have. It's difficult to be objective about refereeing when you’re a coach. We can see the same picture and still see something different. It’s easy to complain about the referee," he said.

"But I've never thought the mistakes made on the field have to do with the nationality of a referee. I had a good chat with them and we even made a few jokes about the state of things recently around officials. It was really friendly."

The 48-year-old also chuckled when asked about another major legacy of the Boks' series win over the Lions - do they play in a boring manner?

"What’s boring and what's not? It’s really subjective. It was Tests that were very tight and physical, very tense. There was a lot of pressure on the field and off it. It seems to me the Boks were pretty happy about winning. It was an impressive feat."

Kick-off is at 17:05.