Cape Town - Don’t let the final result against Argentina fool you – the Springboks have some serious work to do if they are to avoid being dominated by the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship.
The Boks escaped utter humiliation for the second year in a row at the hands of Argentina with a last-gasp 30-23 victory at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday to get off the mark in the Rugby Championship.
Warren Whiteley’s well-taken try in the left-hand corner sealed the deal in injury time after superb hands by firstly Eben Etzebeth and then Bryan Habana, who held on to the ball just long enough before offloading to Whiteley.
The Bok No 8 had a lot of work to do to get the ball on the ground, but had the presence of mind to avoid the tackle and get the winner. Elton Jantjies kicked the touchline conversion, and it was Whiteley again who booted the ball into touch to end the game.
But up until the 70th minute, it was a nightmare outing for the South Africans as they looked like they were playing away from home, such was the lack of intensity and speed in their game.
Allister Coetzee’s team started off reasonably well, and created an excellent try after Jantjies made a terrific break up the middle, before fullback Johan Goosen hit the line hard and made the space for Ruan Combrinck to bash over a few defenders and score in the right-hand corner in the eighth minute.
But after the initial lull, Los Pumas rediscovered the physicality and agility that saw them run the Boks ragged in the 37-25 win in Durban last year as their offloading game caused the home side endless problems.
After Jantjies and Nicolas Sanchez traded a few penalties, centre Matias Orlando broke open the game by rounding off a thrilling run by fullback Joaquin Tuculet, which suddenly put Argentina 13-10 ahead despite a yellow card to wing Manuel Montero for a dangerous tackle on Damian de Allende.
Before that, though, there was a harsh call against the Boks as Lionel Mapoe appeared to have scored a good try from a smart move from a lineout, but the TMO ruled that he had lost the ball in the act of scoring. It looked like Mapoe still had a hand on the ball, but a new law apparently states that a knock-on should be called if it looks like a player has lost the ball.
It was the Pumas pack who outmuscled and outfoxed the Bok pack as they were more streetwise and physical at the breakdown, and played with precision and skill on attack. They made the ball do the work, whereas the South Africans were their usual mechanical selves as they set up pods instead of letting things flow naturally with ball-in-hand.
Also, Goosen was often found out of position at the back, and he missed one or two up-and-unders in the air.
It didn’t help that Jantjies missed a few crucial shots at goal, while Goosen was way short with one from inside his own half.
Bad turned to worse for the Boks when Habana was yellow-carded in the 48th minute for taking out a player in the air, but he was lucky to not get a red card despite slipping.
But after Sanchez and Jantjies exchanged a few more three-pointers, it was Argentina who went into a 10-point lead in the last quarter when Montero launched a devastating counter-attack from his half, and Sanchez executed a delightful chip for Santiago Cordero to score.
At 23-13 with 12 minutes left, the Boks were staring down the barrel of a shocking defeat, but they hit back as scrumhalf Faf de Klerk broke clear from a scrum and drew the defence before finding a flying Goosen to run in untouched.
Two minutes later, Jantjies levelled the scores at 23-23 with another penalty, and then the late winner came from Whiteley.
But the Boks were also fortunate as Argentina failed to take their try-scoring opportunities, with basics such as physicality and tempo were missing from the home team’s game.
If they dish up a similar performance against Argentina in Salta next Saturday, they will come second-best – let alone against the All Blacks, who thrashed Australia 42-8 in Sydney on Saturday.
POINTS-SCORERS
South Africa – Tries: Ruan Combrinck, Johan Goosen, Warren Whiteley. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3). Penalties: Jantjies (3).
Argentina – Tries: Matias Orlando, Santiago Cordero. Conversions: Nicolas Sanchez (2). Penalties: Nicolas Sanchez (3).
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