South Africa 36 (22) Argentina 20 (6)
It took until the last minute of the game to secure a valuable bonus point that could still be the difference between winning and losing the Rugby Championship, but the Springboks left Buenos Aires with their objective met.
Hooker Malcolm Marx’s try in the dying embers of this wild encounter against the Pumas gave the Boks a 36-20 win. It was their fifth try of the match, to the two of the home team. By scoring three tries or more than their opponents, the Boks earned a bonus point and took a total of five log points from the encounter.
It means they are up to 14 points on the standings, level with the All Blacks. Both sides have home games in the final round next week to complete the closest Rugby Championship campaign in history.
Going into the penultimate round of matches all four sides were in contention for the title. Mathematically Australia, currently on 10 points, could still win it.
That would require a huge win over the All Blacks at Eden Park, where New Zealand haven’t lost for 28 years. And it would also need Argentina to thrash the Boks in Durban.
The reality is that the All Blacks are in pole position for the title following their controversial 39-37 win over the Wallabies in round five. They have a +41 points’ difference to the Boks’ +28 difference.
If both sides secure five log points in the final round, the Boks would need to beat Argentina by 13 points more than the All Blacks over Australia to be 2022 champions.
But for the Springboks to have a chance to win the title next week requires a monumental effort in front of a hostile crowd and a trigger-happy television match official (TMO) at the Estadio Libertadores De América.
Power pack
Not for the first time in history, the Springbok pack laid the foundation for victory. Marx was superb in every facet, winning a now customary breakdown penalty and scoring a try off the back of a rolling maul. He also made 14 tackles, second only to flank Franco Mostert’s 17.
With every commanding performance he puts in, it further makes a mockery of how it was possible to leave him out of the starting teams against the All Blacks and Wallabies earlier this season when Bongi Mbonambi was injured. The Boks lost both of those matches.
Tighthead prop Frans Malherbe was strong in the scrum, but also prominent in the loose with strong carries and some big defence around the fringes.
Skipper Siya Kolisi was again quietly effective with some telling tackles and tough work on the ground, while lock Lood de Jager’s skills as a strike runner are immense.
Halfback Jaden Hendrikse and Damian Willemse were excellent in the first half, pulling the strings beautifully as the Boks built up a commanding 22-6 lead.
Willemse though, suffered probably concussion in the second half and if that is the case, he will miss out on next week’s decider, which will pose some tough questions for coach Jacques Nienaber.
Hendrikse has now clearly usurped Faf de Klerk as the first choice scrumhalf in the squad, and while his play is not flawless, he is improving with every outing. Defensively he is strong and on attack he displayed his scoring instincts, throwing a neat dummy before sniping over for the team’s second try.
Despite a fast start from the Pumas, the Boks weathered the early storm and turned the screw mercilessly in the first stanza.
New Zealand referee James Doleman awarded the Boks a penalty try in the 22nd minute after Pumas flyhalf Santiago Carreras made a try-saving tackle on Hendrikse from an offside position. The unfortunate Argentinian was yellow carded for the infringement, to add insult to injury.
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The Boks used the advantage well, with Hendrikse scoring the team’s second try after two phases following a maul. Marx completed the first half onslaught by crashing over from the back of a maul in the 32nd minute and at that stage the Boks were just about unplayable.
Things became worse for the Pumas when scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou also found himself heading to the sin bin after a professional foul late in the first half, but the Boks failed to score from another maul close to the line, which was a big turning point.
Second-half shambles
The Pumas were strangely subdued and passive in the first half, but whatever coach Michael Cheika said at half time worked. He made four personal changes in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Boks seemed to become complacent and coupled with a more fiery display from the home team, and the growing noise from a frothing crowd, the momentum switched.
The Boks found themselves on defence for much of the third quarter of the match and eventually conceded a penalty try of their own. Replacement flank Kwagga Smith was deemed to have made a dangerous tackle on his goal line, which was a stretch.
He stopped flank Marcos Kremer, who was 30cm off the ground, from scoring, but it was deemed high. How much lower Smith could’ve gone will only be known to TMO Chris Hart.
The Pumas’ second try, scored by replacement utility back Matías Moroni, came from a blatant forward pass by Kremer. Somehow the TMO said “it was fine”. In NFL maybe, but not in rugby.
That brought the Pumas roaring back into the match with 11 minutes to go. But the Boks showed impressive composure to regroup, and take play deep into Pumas territory.
Centre Damian de Allende burst through three tackles to score with five minutes remaining, rekindling hope of a bonus point.
As the game wound to its end, the Boks manufactured a superb try that could still be decisive in the final analysis.
From 40-metres out, Marx, replacement flank Deon Fourie and left wing Makazole Mapimpi combined with deft passes to manipulate enough space for the hooker to score with seconds remaining and set the scene for a thrilling finale at King’s Park next week. DM
Scorers:
Argentina
Tries: Penalty Try, Matías Moroni.
Conversion: Emiliano Boffelli.
Penalties: Boffelli (2).
South Africa
Penalty try, Jaden Hendrikse, Malcolm Marx (2), Damian de Allende. Conversions: Damian Willemse, Frans Steyn (2).
Penalty: Willemse.
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