Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the hero as Springboks cruise to emphatic triumph over Argentina
Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scores one of three tries against Argentina.
An outstanding individual performance by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu guided the Springboks to an emphatic 67-30 victory over Argentina in Durban on Saturday.
As expected, this was a tough and physical encounter filled with numerous thrilling moments, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu finished with a 37-point haul courtesy of a hat-trick of tries, eight conversions and a couple of penalties.
That contribution was significant as it is the most points ever scored in a single Test by a Springbok player.
South Africa eventually outscored Los Pumas by nine tries to three with Pieter-Steph du Toit (2), Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe, Morne van den Berg and Manie Libbok also crossing the whitewash for the home side.
For Argentina, Santiago Chocobares and Tomas Albornoz dotted down, and they were also awarded a penalty try while Santiago Carreras kicked three penalties and two conversions.
Click here for scorers
The result means the Boks move to the top of the Rugby Championship table, and they have now amassed 15 points, which is one ahead of New Zealand, while Australia and Argentina occupy third and fourth positions respectively in the standings.
The first 30 minutes of this encounter was marked by excellent defensive efforts from both sides, and after 25 minutes Argentina held a 9-6 lead after Carreras had slotted three penalties for the visitors while Feinberg-Mngomezulu had succeeded with a couple of three-pointers off the tee for the hosts.
In the 29th minute, the home side strung several phases together inside Argentina’s half with Siya Kolisi, Pieter Steph du Toit and Ethan Hooker all prominent ball carriers.
The latter was brought to ground close to Los Pumas’ try-line before Eben Etzebeth barged over from close quarters after gathering the ball from the ensuing ruck, but his effort was disallowed after a handling error Cobus Reinach in the build-up.
Despite that setback, the Boks were soon rewarded when Marx crossed for the game’s opening try on the half-hour mark off the back of a lineout drive deep inside Argentina territory.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s conversion attempt was wide of the mark, which meant the Boks were up 11-9, but the visitors soon regained the lead in bizarre fashion.
This, when a Santiago Carreras kick rolled over South Africa’s try-line and Kolbe gathered before dotting down.
He then proceeded to drop-kick the ball to Damian Willemse, who was also behind the whitewash, but the ball came off the side of the Boks flyer’s boot and was gathered by Chocobares, who then dotted down and started celebrating.
Referee Angus Gardner checked with his TMO Brett Cronan whether a legitimate try was scored, and that was confirmed as Chocobares was within his rights to play the ball after Kolbe’s kick.
Soon after that, Los Pumas were also awarded a penalty try after they launched a lineout drive close to the Boks’ try-line before Marx halted the maul illegally, and the Boks’ hooker was also yellow-carded for his indiscretion.
Despite having a numerical disadvantage and trailing on the scoreboard, the Boks finished stronger and Feinberg-Mngomezulu soon left his stamp on the match. He gathered a pass from Willemse midway between his 22 and the halfway line and spotted a gap in Argentina’s backfield before launching a kick upfield.
The ball bounced teasingly deep inside the visitors’ 22, and the Boks playmaker gathered his own kick before diving over the whitewash for a spectacular try.
That meant the hosts held a slender 25-23 lead at half-time, and three minutes after the restart, the Feinberg-Mngomezulu Show continued when he launched a pinpoint cross-kick which Kolbe gathered before racing away to score his try.
The Boks fly-half was far from done as he crossed for his second five-pointer a minute later, after stepping past three defenders, and he sealed his hat-trick after selling three defenders an outrageous dummy deep inside Argentina territory in the 51st minute.
Argentina replied with a try from replacement back Albornoz shortly afterwards but despite that score, the home side did not panic, and after Van den Berg dotted down on the hour-mark, it was one-way traffic for the Boks as they clinched the result with Du Toit’s two five-pointers and Libbok’s try, which were all scored in a frantic 15-minute period at the end.
The teams
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements:16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Juan Martín González, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Tomás Albornoz
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Angus Mabey (NZR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Damon Murphy (RA)
