Narrow win for South Africa over Argentina in gritty rugby Test clash
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South Africa’s fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is tackled by Argentina's centre Faustino Sanchez Valarolo during a rugby Test match in Buenos Aires on Aug 8.
PHOTO: AFP
BUENOS AIRES – South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was pleased that the rugby world champions managed to overcome a physical Argentinian side in a Test on Aug 8 despite a below-par showing.
The Springboks came from behind to secure an unconvincing 17-10 victory over the Pumas at Velez Sarsfield in preparation for a four-Test series against New Zealand, starting later this month.
South Africa’s tries came from Edwill van der Merwe and Cameron Hanekom, while fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked over a penalty and conversion and substitute Handre Pollard added one conversion.
Benjamin Grondona scored a try for Argentina, who had several first-choice players unavailable because of club commitments in Europe. There was also a penalty and conversion from Santiago Carreras.
Erasmus, 53, said: “We looked leg-weary early on, gave up a lot of territory, and made errors which we knew were likely with seven or eight players having played very little rugby in the last six or seven weeks. I always expected us to look disjointed, having left 15 players back in South Africa.
“Argentina play a different style of rugby, and the stadium is genuinely intimidating, but it’s a win although it wasn’t pretty and perfect. That said, we are happy with the result and with the way we ground it out.”
While the Springboks left a large number of their likely first-choice picks at home, they had key fly-half Feinberg-Mngomezulu and World Cup-winning veterans Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth and captain Siya Kolisi back in a bid to prove their fitness before the first Test against New Zealand in Johannesburg on Aug 22.
However, Kolisi, back in the team after an injury, limped off after 25 minutes following another hamstring issue. “I’ll have to go for a scan and see how bad it is but it’s really tough, but I can’t be sad about it because there is nothing I can do about it,” he said.
Erasmus remains upbeat about Kolisi’s availability against the All Blacks.
“He injured his hamstring, the other hamstring, but it doesn’t look too bad,” said Erasmus. “I thought Siya was really dynamic with his carries and his clean-outs.”
The two sides traded early penalties before Grondona darted over for the first try after a clever pop pass caught out the Springboks’ defence.
The match then turned into a scrappy affair with a multitude of mistakes as the kicking game from both sides was largely inaccurate and failed to deliver any impetus.
It was only on the stroke of half-time that South Africa managed to pull level after some slick handling down the backline before winger van der Merwe outsprinted the home defence to dot down under the posts to make it 10-10 at the break.
Stout Argentinian defence kept South Africa’s repeated attacks at bay as the world champions dominated the second half but, after 63 minutes, they went ahead for the first time in the game as a powerful scrum near the Argentinian lines drove the Pumas off their feet and allowed Hanekom to go over for his first Test try.
A tap penalty for Argentina in the last minute presented the hosts with a chance to tie the game and they went through 15 phases before setting up winger Matias Moroni wide on the left wing, only for him to drop the ball and end hopes of levelling matters. REUTERS
