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The penultimate game of the Rugby World Cup saw South Africa finishing on top to win Bronze Medals. It was a game too many for Argentina with the impact of the injury enforced players being clear as South Africa won by eleven points.
Similar to against Australia five days ago Argentina started in their own territory and showed no interest in kicking the ball. This time there was no early try from a mistake but referee John Lacey made it tough on Argentina by yellow carding Tomás Cubelli in the 5th minute.
Lacey penalized the scrumhalf for not being 10 meters back from a quick tap-penalty, the usual call in such circumstances. On Sunday, though, Wayne Barnes did not yellow card Will Genia for an identical infringement.
With a one man advantage and a further penalty South Africa made Argentina pay with JP Pietersen crossing in the corner and Pollard adding the touchline conversion. A second try appeared to come in the 10th minute only for replays to show Lucas González Amorosino had got back just before Bryan Habana.
González Amorosino again made a save two minutes later only to then kick out on the full, handing South Africa an attacking lineout. South African handing though gave Argentina the ball only for Ramiro Herrera to give away a needly penalty which Pollard landed to make it 10-0 when Cubelli returned.
With an attacking scrum but Juan Figallo off receiving treatment Lacey penalized Lucas Noguera Paz for collapsing in the 16th minute. Just before he returned Santiago Cordero made a clean break and, when looking for support, was tackled into touch.
A second change followed minutes later with Cubelli breaking the line and going within three meters of scoring. Horacio Agulla juggled a pass backwards which prevented a try scoring chance from the resulting ruck but Argentina had advantage. Lacey let Argentina pass the ball but despite the South Americans not gaining ground he penalized Argentina, thus ending the advantage.
A second Pollard penalty in the 33rd minute gave South Africa a 13-0 lead during a period in which Argentina was playing the better rugby. A further near chance went astray when Matías Moroni went within two meters of the try line. It summed up Argentina’s opening half as they created but could not finish chance. Pollard, at the other end of the field, made it 16-0 at the interval with a simple penalty.
Los Pumas kicked-off and regathered and after several phases Sánchez opened Argentina’s account with a well taken drop goal. The Springboks, though, regathered their own kickoff and Eben Etzebeth caught Argentina lagging as he dived over in the left corner. Replays suggested Bryan Habana had thrown a forward pass but the TMO only verified the grounding, thereby giving South Africa a 21-3 lead.
Pollard added a fourth penalty in the 48th minute which Sánchez cancelled out in the 52nd minute making it a 24-6 game. Both Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe and Horacio Agulla were replaced, bringing their veteran international careers to an end.
Both Schalk Burger and Bryan Habana also left for the final time with the later doing so without scoring a try. He therefore will remain ties with Jonah Lomu as the greatest World Cup try scorer of all time.
Argentina persisted but could not break through, that is not until the final minute with replacement Juan Pablo Orlandi scoring a well deserved try. Sánchez converted to conclude the match.
Scorers
Argentina
Try: Orlandi
Conversion: Sánchez
Penalty: Sánchez
Drop Goal: Sánchez
South Africa
Try: Pietersen, Etzebeth
Conversion: Pollard
Penalty: Pollard (4)
Argentina
15 Lucas González Amorosino, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolás Sánchez (Captain), 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Juan Manuel Leguízamon, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Juan Figallo
16 Lucas Noguera Paz, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Santiago García Botta, 19 Guido Petti Pagadizával, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (Captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Lodewyk de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
