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South Africa secured their second victory in as many weeks against Argentina with a dominant 29-10 in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon. It was a poor spectacle with the set piece at the forefront and attacking rugby almost completely absent across the 80 minutes.
The first half was mired in penalties, with Los Pumas conceding 13 through a combination of poor discipline and unsympathetic officiating. Handré Pollard was content to plug the corners and take points at every opportunity, racking up five successful kicks before halftime.
A yellow card was finally brandished to Rodrigo Bruni after the accumulation just past the half-hour mark. Domingo Miotti’s earlier penalty, Argentina’s only chance for points in the half, left it 15-3 to the Springboks at the break.
Miotti pulled an early shot at lock wide early in the second half, and South Africa launched a furious attack. After pulling the defense to the right, Willie le Roux found Makazole Mapimpi in space to win the race to the corner. Pollard’s successful kick made it 22-3.
More penalties gave the Springbok pack the perfect platform to grind over a second try. The driving maul was unstoppable with Malcolm Marx getting the credit, Pollard again on target to retain his perfect record and push the result beyond doubt.
Nico Janse van Rensburg and Lucio Cinti came on to make their test debuts for their respective nations. Nicolás Sánchez replaced Miotti to tie Agustín Creevy’s record as Argentina’s most-capped player. His kick to the corner gave the forwards a chance to drive in, but a knock-on saw the opportunity come to nothing.
A lengthy stoppage in play came as Jaden Hendrikse was carried off after being injured in a tackle from Marcos Kremer. Cheslin Kolbe moved to scrumhalf with the Springboks forced to play with 14 men for the final eight minutes of the match.
Sanchez inspired a late throw of the dice that almost resulted in a try only for the scoring pass from Juan Martín González to be picked off by Lukhanyo Am. Tomás Lavanini was binned as the Springboks returned fire, but Argentina regained possession and at last crossed the line in the 86th minute of play as Pablo Matera spun out of a tackle to fall on the line.
Los Pumas will now wait to see when and where their next fixture will take place the Rugby Championship is left in a period of uncertainty. New Zealand will not play Australia this weekend as rumors abound of a potential move of the competition to Europe amidst the ongoing pandemic.
SCORING
SOUTH AFRICA 29
Tries – M. Mapimpi (46′), M. Marx (52′)
Cons – H. Pollard 2/2 (47′, 53′)
Pens – H. Pollard 5/5 (11’, 17’, 23’, 29’, 33’)
ARGENTINA 10
Tries – P. Matera (80’+6′)
Cons – N. Sanchez 1/1 (80’+6′)
Pens – D. Miotti 1/2 (24’)
YC – R. Bruni (32’), T. Lavanini (80′)
TEAMS
SOUTH AFRICA
1 Trevor Nyakane (17 Steven Kitshoff 13’), 2 Malcolm Marx (16 Bongi Mbonambi 55′), 3 Thomas du Toit (18 Frans Malherbe 55′), 4 Marvin Orie (19 Nico Janse van Rensburg 51′), 5 Lood de Jager (20 Kwagga Smith 62′), 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Franco Mostert, 8 Jasper Wiese (21 Daniel du Preez 51′), 9 Cobus Reinach (*22 Jaden Hendrikse 66′), 10 Handré Pollard, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Willie le Roux (23 Damian Willemse 66′)
*22 Jaden Hendrikse left the field at 72 minutes and could not be replaced
ARGENTINA
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (17 Facundo Gigena 54′), 2 Julián Montoya (capt.) (16 Facundo Bosch 73′), 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela (18 Santiago Medrano 54′), 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Guido Petti (20 Juan Martín González 66′), 8 Rodrigo Bruni (19 Marcos Kremer 49′), 9 Gonzalo Bertranou (21 Felipe Ezcurra 77′), 10 Domingo Miotti (22 Nicolás Sánchez 60′), 11 Santiago Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (23 Lucio Cinti 57′), 13 Santiago Chocobares, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistants: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa) & AJ Jacobs (South Africa)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
