Argentina ratings: Julian Montoya shows his class despite loss in Durban
Following their 38-21 defeat to South Africa in the final round of the Rugby Championship in Durban, here are the player ratings for Argentina.
15 Juan Cruz Mallia: The full-back looked good with the ball in hand and made clever decisions on the whole. That was a solid performance from the Argentine. 7
14 Emiliano Boffelli: Kicked well off the tee as expected but did not have much influence on the game otherwise. Quiet by his standards. 6
13 Matias Moroni: Gave away soft penalties in the first half but made up for it with a second-half try that brought Argentina within striking distance. 6
12 Jeronimo de la Fuente: Not much to write home about for the centre who carried decently but was yellow carded in an average performance. 5
11 Juan Imhoff: Another wing who did not manage to get much of the ball. The speedster chased well and showed effort on defence but ultimately did not set the game alight. 5
10 Santiago Carreras: Decent outing from the fly-half who managed to get his side going forward early in the second half. Looks to be Argentina’s pivot heading into next year’s World Cup. 6
9 Gonzalo Bertranou: Inconsistent at times with the boot and gave away a soft penalty but made up for it with a sniping try on the stroke of halftime. 6
Scrum struggles in the pack
8 Pablo Matera: The passionate number eight went off injured in the first half in a big loss for Argentina. N/A
7 Marcos Kremer: Reckless at times during the game and spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. The flank did not make up for his poor discipline in a disappointing performance. 4
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez: Yellow carded for repeated infringements but played with passion and work rate capped off with a beautiful try in the second half. 7
5 Tomas Lavanini: The second-row was on hand in defence and solid in the set-pieces, satisfying his role without doing anything outrageous. 6
4 Matias Alemanno: See Lavanini. A decent performance from the lock, fulfilling his role without significant impact on the game. 6
3 Eduardo Bello: The prop was absolutely monstered in the scrum and was removed from the field before half-time. A performance to forget. 4
2 Julian Montoya (c): The captain produced another brilliant display, prowling at the breakdown and carrying brilliantly before rallying his troops in a near comeback. 8
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro: Struggled against Frans Malherbe and was removed after half-time in a poor performance in the set-piece. 5
Replacements: Joel Sclavi’s introduction in the first half rescued the scrum while Guido Petti put in a workmanlike performance. Veteran Augustin Creevy was on hand to fire up his men late on in the game. 7
READ MORE: South Africa ratings: Jasper Wiese stars in bittersweet win in Durban