South Africa could be without injured stars Bakkies Botha and Jaque Fourie for the clash with New Zealand when rugby's Tri-Nations resumes next weekend.

Both were hurt in the record 63-9 rout of Argentina on Saturday at Ellis Park Stadium in a match celebrating Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday.

Lock Botha injured a knee while replacement midfielder Fourie, who was recalled to the Springboks against the advice of his provincial coach on fitness grounds, suffered a cracked cheekbone.

The pair was taken to hospital for scans and team manager Andy Marinos said a report on the players' injury status will not be available until Monday.

Conrad Jantjes also hurt his neck late but the fullback played on because there were no more replacements.

Meanwhile, coach Peter de Villiers said he hoped to keep the same 22 for the third showdown against the All Blacks at Cape Town next Saturday, although he overlooked winger Bryan Habana and flanker Schalk Burger, who were rested to recover from respective shoulder and neck injuries.

But his message may have hinted at the continued sidelining of World Cup winners Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar, who were dropped for Saturday's match. De Villiers said he'd put players on standby for Botha and Fourie.

Botha came off after 30 minutes, and Fourie, back from a groin injury, broke his cheekbone only five minutes after going on when he clashed heads in a try-saving tackle on Jose Maria Nunez Piossek.

De Villiers said the win over the Pumas, surpassing their 52-23 victory over Argentina in 1993 at Buenos Aires, gave the Springboks confidence for next week's Test.

"We now know what we can do," he said. "We didn't go onto the field with the All Blacks in mind, but we know what we'll have to take up for them."

After 30 minutes, the Springboks were 9-0 down, hustled into errors for which Argentina captain and flyhalf Felipe Contepomi slotted three out of four penalty attempts. But in less than 50 minutes, the Boks replied with 63 unanswered points, nine tries all converted by flyhalf Butch James.

The turnaround started when scrumhalf Ricky Januarie's wild pass flew over James and was scooped by Jean de Villiers, who broke on a 50-metre run to put in midfield partner Adrian Jacobs in the 32nd minute.

The other tries went to debutant winger Jongi Nokwe for 14-9 at halftime, and a pair each for the other speedster JP Pietersen and replacement flanker Joe van Niekerk on his 50th appearance.

Also touching down were No.8 Pierre Spies, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez in his first Test this year, and hooker Bismarck du Plessis.

Juan Manuel Leguizamon was over for Argentina at the finish, but he fumbled the ball and was unable to score a consolation try.

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