Coach Felipe Contepomi says Argentina want to give the Springboks “a good run for their money”.

Los Pumas have beaten the British & Irish Lions, All Blacks and Wallabies this year, and now face back-to-back Tests against the world champions – at Kings Park on Saturday and Twickenham on 4 October.

Argentina are just a point behind the Springboks and All Blacks on the Rugby Championship log, and two behind the Wallabies, who play New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday.

“You are thinking too far ahead,” Contepomi said on Thursday when asked what it would mean to Los Pumas to win the tournament for the first time. “We have one more training session before Saturday’s game against the double world champions, and we are sharpening the knife so that it is ready for game day. That is my only focus.

“Our main thing is to improve each training session, to be better than the previous one. We are happy with our progress, but there is still plenty we can work on.

“The big thing for me is the attitude of the squad. The guys are unbelievable. Even those who haven’t played a single minute are totally committed. That is the unselfishness we are looking for.”

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The former Pumas flyhalf said their philosophy was about behaviours as much as performances.

“It is about how you behave every day, on and off the pitch. We respect the fact that South Africa are the No 1 team in the world at the moment. Having said that, we are here to compete. We like to face a big challenge; we are a high-performance team, and as such, you want to test yourself against the best.”

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Contepomi admitted there had been mistakes in previous games, even in big wins, but stressed that Argentina’s goal was steady growth.

“It has been a good year so far, but that is in the past. We are trying to get better week in and week out. We believe in each other. We are chasing cohesion, and we compete against each other in training as much as we compete against the opposition.”

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