Argentina Make History, Defeating South Africa in Salta

History was made in Salta this afternoon as Los Pumas defeated South Africa in the Rugby Championship. The narrow 26-24 win was Argentina’s first over the Springboks in South America.

The win comes a year after Argentina defeated South Africa in Durban. With it Argentina have now defeated their South Atlantic rivals on two occasions in the Rugby Championship. Following on from a win over Australia in Mendoza in 2014 a win over New Zealand is the final chapter required to be written.

In Salta this afternoon Argentina played a very strong opening half. Enjoying some 70% of possession Los Pumas had their foot on the accelerator. It saw enterprising play and meant South Africa did little besides defend.

Ultimately the strong start did contribute heavily to the win. At the midway point Argentina held a ten point lead. In the end the win by by two. It did not come easily though as third choice goal kicker Santiago González Iglesias lined up a late penalty to restore Argentina’s lead with just two minutes remaining.

A second half improvement from the South Africans combined with Pumas dropping like flies made the going tough. Argentina lost Manuel Montero, Tomás Lavanini, Nicolás Sánchez, Matías Orlando and Juan Martín Hernández to injuries. Head Coach Daniel Hourcade did not panic but moved scrum half Martín Landajo to fly half.

Landajo had an impressive match. He was at the forefront for the duration of the opening half, outplaying the fancied Faf de Klerk. The Lions’ play maker was unable to have the same impact on play in Salta but the match nonetheless was similar to how it played out in Nelspruit one week earlier.

As was the case in South Africa the Argentine side looked to attack at will, often running from deep within their own half. An early chance at a try was missed, though, as winger Manuel Montero knocked-on as he looked to ground the ball.

It was followed by Argentina being tested as tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera was yellow carded for a late tackle. The incident was followed by Elton Jantjies opening the scoring though a penalty.

Despite being a man down, Argentina recovered well to take a 6-3 lead following two penalties from fly half Nicolás Sánchez. A try almost followed only for Matías Orlando to be pushed into touch by the giant hand of Eben Etzebeth.

Unable to get out of their own half the South Africans continuously kicked the ball back to Los Pumas. Argentina gladly counter attacked and it appeared as if it was just a matter of time before they would strike gold. In the end it came through fullback Joaquín Tuculet. Having started an attack he linked with Montero and Orlando to go over.

Further opportunities were not taken and South Africa was unable to hit back. With Janjies missing shots at goal the first half game to a close with Argentina leading 13-3.

Looking to strike back with all of their weaponry, South Africa came out firing after the break. It proved to be highly impressive and the lead was cancelled out. A penalty from Jantjies was followed by a try to Bryan Habana to make it a 13-13 match.

The injuries then came. Montero’s departure was quickly followed by Lavanini who limped off with an injured knee. Sánchez departed shortly thereafter before Leguizamón celebrated his 70th cap with a try. Leaping above Habana the Santiago del Estero native gathered a cross-kick from Hernández to score in the corner.

Hernández added the conversion and with it Argentina was back to a ten point lead. With the scores at 23-13 it was a repeat of the Nelspruit test and like in that match South Africa came back hard.

This eventuated against the back drop of reserve scrum half Tomás Cubelli replacing center Orlando. This saw Landajo moved to 10 and Hernández returning to 12. It did not last long as Oupa Mohoje collided with Hernández, knocking him out in the process.

This saw young prop Enrique Pieretto making his test debut, remarkably replacing a center. The complications did not end there though as Herrera moved to the second-row, replacement second-rower Guido Petti moved to the back-rowand Javier Ortega Desio played center.

Meanwhile South Africa crossed for a try.  The scorer was replacement second-rower Pieter-Steph du Toit. It was unconverted from Morné Steyn. The Stade Français play-maker made up for it with two penalties to give the Springboks a 24-23 lead.

Argentina would not fall on their sword as a Santiago Cordero break got them back into the opposition half. When referee Jerome Garces penalized the South Africans for tackling a player without the ball González Iglesias stepped up to become the hero, kicking his team to glory.

The players have little time for celebrations, though this will not stop them. Following a weekend off Argentina will travel to New Zealand where they will play against the All Blacks in Hamilton on September 10. They will need to assess the casualties and possibly go against policy by selecting players from Europe.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Try: Tuculet, Leguizamón
Conversion: Sánchez, Hernández
Penalty: Sánchez (2), Hernández, González Iglesias

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: Habana, Du Toit
Conversion: Goosen
Penalty: Jantjies (2), Steyn (2)

ARGENTINA
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Felipe Arregui, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (capt.), 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel