Springboks clinch second successive Rugby Championship title after hard-fought win over Argentina
Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx crosses for one of his two tries against Argentina.
The Springboks were crowned Rugby Championship winners for the second successive year when they clinched a narrow 29-27 victory over Argentina at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday.
With the All Blacks clinching a bonus-point victory over the Wallabies earlier in the day, the Springboks came into this encounter knowing that all they had to do to win the Rugby Championship was to beat Los Pumas.
They got the job done in the end, but as the scoreline suggests, they were made to work hard for the result and eventually outscored their opponents by four tries to three.
Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx led the way with a brace of tries apiece while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted three conversions and a penalty.
Bautista Delguy (2) and Rodrigo Isgro scored Argentina’s five-pointers, and Santiago Carreras finished with a 12-point haul courtesy of three conversions and a couple of penalties.
Click here for scorers
From the outset, Los Pumas took the fight to the Boks with forwards and backs combining intelligently with some strong carries on attack.
Argentina’s cause was helped when Canan Moodie was yellow-carded in the second minute after a head clash while executing a tackle on Juan Cruz Mallía inside South African territory.
Springboks supporters had a nervy wait as his indiscretion was reviewed during his stint in the sin bin and breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was not upgraded to red.
However, with a man short in their backline, it wasn’t long before the world champions’ defence was breached and two minutes after Moodie’s sin binning, Delguy gathered a long pass from Carreras before crossing for the opening try.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu then slotted a penalty in the 10th minute to open the Boks’ account before Carreras restored his side’s seven-point lead with a three-pointer of his own in the 18th minute.
The next 10 minutes was a slugfest as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy, with the only points coming in the 27th minute when Carreras succeeded with his second three-pointer off the kicking tee.
However, the Boks made the stronger finish to the half and had a powerful scrum – a facet of play which they dominated throughout – to thank for that.
A powerful collective surge from the Boks pack put great pressure on their counterpart at a scrum on Argentina’s five-metre line, and when the ball came out at the base of the set-piece Reinach gathered before crossing from close quarters.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras, which meant the match was evenly poised with Los Pumas leading 13-10 at half-time.
Soon after the restart, the South Americans were also reduced to 14 men when Mayco Vivas was yellow-carded when he made an illegal hit on Eben Etzebeth, which was similar to Moodie’s earlier offence and the Argentina prop’s card was also not upgraded to red.
It wasn’t long before South Africa’s numerical advantage saw them being rewarded when Marx broke away from a lineout drive close to Argentina’s try-line before he barged over from close quarters for a well-taken try.
Five minutes later, the Boks went on the charge deep inside Argentina’s and their forwards set up several phases – with Pieter-Steph du Toit and RG Snyman prominent ball carriers – before Reinach spotted a gap and went over for his five-pointer.
Not to be outdone was Marx, who also crossed for his second try from close quarters after the Boks had Los Pumas’ defence at sixes and sevens thanks to some strong carries from their forwards in the build-up.
However, a wayward pass from Cheslin Kolbe on his 10-metre line in the 66th minute was pounced on by Delguy, who raced away to score his second try.
That set up a nervy finish for the Boks, and in the game’s dying moments Carreras launched a cross-field kick which Isgro gathered behind the Boks’ try-line before dotting down.
By that time, the full-time hooter had already gone, which meant the Boks had done enough to clinch the win and hold onto their Rugby Championship title.
The teams
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Cruz Mallía, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Santiago Grondona , 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo , 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Martín González, 21 Joaquín Oviedo, 22 Agustin Moyano, 23 Rodrigo Isgro
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 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Jesse Kriel
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Christophe Ridley (RFU)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)