Rugby Championship History – Argentina vs South Africa

The 2017 Rugby Championship got underway on Saturday. As has occurred in all prior editions, South Africa had home advantage against Argentina in the opening round. Round two will see Argentina hosting the reverse fixture this coming Saturday in Salta. It is to be the fifth Rugby Championship match between the teams in Argentina. Los Pumas enter with a 1-1-2 record.

August 25 2012: Argentina 16-16 South Africa, Mendoza
Argentina’s historic home Rugby Championship match was a draw. Both teams scored one try each with South Africa’s coming from an Argentine error. François Steyn punished the home side by charging down a Marcelo Bosch clearing kick and scoring. The 65th minute try saw the teams go level and they would remain so until the end of the match. Goal kickers from both teams were off-target with numerous attempts. As such they would share the competition points.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Try: Fernández (16)
Conversion: Rodríguez Gurruchaga (17)
Penalty: Rodríguez Gurruchaga (11, 35, 50)

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: F Steyn (64)
Conversion: M Steyn (65)
Penalty: M Steyn (32, 48, 53)

ARGENTINA
15 Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (Capt.), 7 Alvaro Galindo, 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Rodrigo Roncero

Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomás Leonardí, 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Lucas González Amorosino, 22 Juan Imhoff

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (Capt.), 12 François Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 François Hougaard, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht

August 24 2013: Argentina 17-22 South Africa, Mendoza
The teams returned to Mendoza for the 2013 fixture. It was a low-point for Argentina. One week earlier Los Pumas had fallen to a humiliating 73-13 defeat in Johannesburg. The South Americans recoverted well, playing significantly better and coming close to winning. Argentina’s tries both came in the opening half. They gave Los Pumas a 17-13 lead. In failing to add second half points the Springboks would go on to secure victory. Had it not been for missed penalties from Felipe Contepomi and Marcelo Bosch then Argentina may have completed their first Rugby Championship triumph. In contrast Morné Steyn landed a perfect 6/6 for the match.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Try: Leguizamón (1), Bosch (36)
Conversion: Contepomi (2, 37)
Pen: Contepomi (10)

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: Basson (13)
Conversion: Steyn (14)
Penalty: Steyn (8, 40, 45, 71, 80)

ARGENTINA
15 Lucas González Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (Capt.), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Julio Farías Cabello, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Marcos Ayerza

Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Matías Díaz, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Benjamín Macome, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago Fernández, 23 Joaquín Tuculet

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (Capt.), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 François Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein

August 23 2014: Argentina 31-33 South Africa, Salta
A lack of results in 2012 and 2013 saw Santiago Phelan resigning in late October of 2013. He was replaced by Daniel Hourcade who made the step up from the PladAR system where he had been in charge of the former Pampas XV. Off-field issues saw Hourcade ending the Pumas careers of Patricio Albacete and Julio Farías Cabello. Others such as Santiago Fernández and Eusebio Guiñazú would also not return. The new-look side would be captained by Agustín Creevy, a player to have been a replacement under Phelan. The team performed well in Salta but would be overcome by a South African comeback.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Try: Montero (25), Cubelli (46), Tuculet (50)
Conversion: Sánchez (26, 46)
Penalty: Sánchez (3, 55), Bosch (73)
Drop: Hernández (12)

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: Habana (31), Hendricks (59), Coetzee (68)
Conversion: Pollard (32), Steyn (59, 69)
Penalty: Pollard (10, 22, 29), Steyn (76)

ARGENTINA
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Lucas González Amorosino, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Mariano Galarza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (Capt.), 1 Marcos Ayerza

Replacements: 16 Matías Cortese, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 23 Horacio Agulla

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Jean de Villiers (Capt.) 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith, 6 François Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 François Hougaard, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Lwazi Mvovo

August 15 2015: Argentina 12-26 South Africa, Buenos Aires
No home Rugby Championship match was played in 2015. This was based on it being a Rugby World Cup year. As a result a reduced format saw Argentina playing away to New Zealand and South Africa in Christchurch and Durban. Los Pumas had one home match, that being against Australia in Mendoza. The South Americans did, nonetheless, host South Africa in a friendly in Buenos Aires. Unable to match the performance from a week earlier Los Pumas lost 12-26. Patrick Lambie scored 16 points as the Springboks got even for losing the prior week in Durban.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Penalty: Sánchez (14, 33, 38, 51)

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: Habana (26), Mvovo (29)
Conversion: Lambie (27, 31)
Penalty: Lambie (6, 17, 55)
Drop Goal: Lambie (42)

ARGENTINA
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Benjamín Macome, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Lucas Noguera Paz

Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield (Capt.), 4 Eben Etzhebeth, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Trevor Nyakane

Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Jan Serfontein

August 27 2016: Argentina 26-24 South Africa, Salta
2016 began well for Argentina. Los Pumas were very close to winning in Nelspruit in week 1 and would get the win in Salta in week 2. The nail-biting victory required all the resources from the bench after Agustín Creevy,  Juan Martín Hernández,  Tomás Lavanini, Manuel Montero and Nicolás Sánchez had all been forced off injured. This saw players out of position including Martín Landajo at fly half, Santiago González Iglesias at outside center and Enrique Pieretto at second-row. It took the third Pumas goal-kicker of the match to win the game. González Iglesias’ 77th minute penalty gave Argentina their first home win over South Africa in history.

SCORERS
ARGENTINA
Try: Tuculet (30), Leguizamón (47)
Conversion: Sánchez (32), Hernández (48)
Penalty: Sánchez (22, 29), Hernández (54), González Iglesias (77)

SOUTH AFRICA
Try: Habana (44), Du Toit (67)
Conversion: Goosen (45)
Penalty: Jantjies (20, 42), Steyn (63, 73)

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 Julián Montoya, 17 Felipe Arregui, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Tomás 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 Oupa Mohojé, 6 François 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 Morné Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel