CAPE TOWN, August 26 (ANA) – South Africa held their nerve to the end to run out comprehensive 41-23 bonus point winners over a fiery Argentina outfit in their Rugby Championship clash at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta, on Saturday, after leading 17-10 at halftime.
The result means that South Africa will move up from fourth to third place on the World Rugby rankings when it is released on Monday.
Ill discipline contributed heavily to Argentina’s downfall and they ended the match with 14 players in a hotly contested match that the Boks settled with an impressive 5-2 try count.
The teams made their intentions clear at the outset as playing patterns produced a mixture of tactical kicks and fierce ball carries which sparked early gainline battles.
Bok hooker Malcolm Marx surrendered a third-minute penalty for not releasing the ball and Pumas leftwing Emiliano Boffelli stepped up to land a monster kick from inside his own half (3-0).
Bok flyhalf Elton Jantjies was off target with two goalable penalties in the space of three minutes soon afterwards.
In the ninth minute, Tomas Lavanini was yellow-carded for a low shoulder charge on Bok prop Coenie Oosthuizen. It looked like the Boks could exploit the one-man advantage but the Pumas thwarted a penetrative raid down the left channel with an interception close to the tryline.
The interception allowed the Pumas to wage a threatening counter-attack which was stifled by the Boks’ cover defence inside their own 22m area. There was a last-gasp chance for the Pumas to salvage some glory then with the Boks’ defence in disarray but a poor crossfield kick, a poor option at the time, went awry.
Moments later, the Boks transferred play to the opposite end of the field and this time they squandered a try-scoring chance as a poor pass to Marx went astray with the tryline beckoning.
But midway through the half, the Boks pulled off a training ground move, sprung by Jantjies and taken further by centre Jessie Kriel before it was superbly rounded off by flank Siya Kolisi who ran in virtually unchallenged for the opening try in the match. Jantjies’ conversion was on target (7-3).
Seven minutes later, a scrum penalty offered Jantjies another crack at the posts and he duly obliged as he steered his effort through the posts to stretch the lead to seven points (10-3).
The Boks’ lead disappeared into thin air with the restart kick-off as they stood ball watching and rightwing Ramiro Moyano grabbed the bouncing ball for the easiest of tries. Juan Martin Hernandez’s conversion made for a 10-all stalemate.
The Boks’ response was immediate as the Pumas defence was caught napping out wide but Kolisi’ scoring pass to Bok fullback Andries Coetzee was ruled ‘forward’.
Two minutes ahead of the halftime break, Argentina’s ill-discipline again reared its head and eighthman Juan Manuel Leguizamón was sin-binned. After the Boks chose to kick the close-in penalty to touch, they worked the ball from the line-out to the incoming support before Jantjies squeezed through the narrowest gaps to snatch a try, which he converted for a 17-10 halftime lead.
The Pumas were off to a strong second-half start as they looked after the ball through several phases before they were collared deep inside the Boks’ 22m area where No 8 Uzair Cassiem conceded a penalty. Hernández’s strike was on target (17-13).
Straight after the kick-off, the Boks continued to absorb pressure but a few minutes later they sparked a telling break out which ended in a second converted Kolisi try after excellent work by Courtnall Skosan, Jantjies and Jaco Kriel (24-13).
Just ahead of the hour mark, the match reached its climax as Lavanini chalked up a second yellow card – and banished from the field – for a deliberate slap down at a time when the Boks were clearly headed for a fourth try. Referee Pascal Gaüzère of France awarded the Boks a penalty try (31-13).
Despite being a man down, it was the Pumas who were next to score via a Joaquin Tuculet try after poor defence by the Boks out wide in the left channel. Substitute Nicolás Sánchez was on target with the conversion (31-20).
To add insult to injury, Bok fullback Andries Coetzee was adjudged to have made a late tackle on Tuculet in the in-goal area and Gaüzère punished the indiscretion with a subsequent halfway-line penalty which Boffelli goaled. The 10-point burst allowed the Pumas to claw their way back into the picture at 31-23, a mere eight points adrift.
There was a measure of comfort for the Boks with a second Jantjies penalty (71st minute) as the lead was stretched to 11 points at 34-23 and then substitute winger Raymond Rule denied the Pumas a certain try when he won the race to a touchdown in the in-goal area.
There was another telling contribution from the Boks’ bench at the death with Jean-Luc du Preez scoring at the corner flag. Jantjies added a splendid conversion from the touchline to crown the bonus-point triumph (41-23).
Scorers: Argentina 23 (10): Tries: Ramiro Moyano, Joaquín Tuculet. Conversions: Juan Martín Hernández, Nicolás Sánchez. Penalties: Hernández, Emiliano Boffelli (2)
South Africa 41 (17): Tries: Siya Kolisi (2), Elton Jantjies, Penalty try, Jean-Luc du Preez. Conversions: Jantjies (4). Penalties: Jantjies (2) – African News Agency (ANA)
