By Gavin Rich.
The game was already won but it was a Malcolm Marx try off the last move of the contest that gave the Springboks what they were looking for as they completed a comprehensive 36-20 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday night.
The Boks built up to the left and Makazole Mapimpi was given the modicum of space he needed to create the opportunity inside him for Marx, with the hooker scoring his second try and in doing so clinching his team a much-needed try-scoring bonus point in their penultimate Castle Lager Rugby Championship game.
The try was one of two in the final seven minutes as the Boks changed what was looking like a potentially losing situation into the result they were looking for in their attempt to keep pace with New Zealand at the top of the log. Damian de Allende had earlier forced his way over to change a narrow two-point advantage to a nine-point one, and in doing so silenced a noisy crowd who got in behind their team as the Los Pumas came back strongly in the second half.
At halftime, it looked as though the Boks were going to easily hit their target. They’d already scored three tries in the first 40 minutes where they exhibited excellent control and maintained almost complete dominance, and it could easily have been four as Lood de Jager was only just denied after the TMO ruled against him when he went over the line on the stroke of halftime.
A LOT WORKED IN FIRST HALF
There were a few things that needed to work for the Boks if they were going to be in with a chance of scoring the big win they were looking for. One was that their set phase had to work. Second, they had to regain their powerful forward drive in the maul, and the other was that they had to carry well.
They did all those things in the first half, with the 3-0 lead opened up by an Emiliano Boffelli penalty after seven minutes being the only time in the game that the Pumas were ahead. Damian Willemse, who had a good game until he left the field with a concussion in the final quarter, levelled the scores with a penalty of his own and then missed a long-range one a few minutes later as the Boks unsuccessfully sought to build scoreboard pressure through going for the three-pointers.
The Boks were gaining the ascendancy at forward by then and it was after another strong forward drive that the ball was passed to Jaden Hendrikse, another player who played well on the night. The scrumhalf dived over in the corner but was held up by a tackle in an offside position by flyhalf Santiago Carreras.
Referee James Dolman correctly ruled that it was a penalty try and also yellow carded Carreras as the Boks took a 10-3 lead after 20 minutes. Boffelli kicked a penalty three minutes later to narrow the deficit to four points but the Boks had the bit between their teeth and, after another strong buildup, Hendrikse sniped through a gap under the posts to stretch the lead to 11 points.
After that came Marx’s first try off a driving maul as the Boks moved to a 22-6 lead, which was also the halftime score, and the Boks looked set at that point to eat away at the points differential advantage that currently keeps the All Blacks at the top of the log.
DEFENCE DID IT IN THE SECOND
However, the Pumas had other ideas, and came out firing in the second half. Indeed, if the Boks were good at carrying the ball and their forward play in the first half, for much of the second it was their defensive work that stood out as Argentina dominated possession. But although their attempts to quicken the game with their passing, running and offloading occasionally had the Bok defence stretched, the South Africans generally had it in control until a curious decision by the Kiwi referee to award a penalty try after replacement looseforward Kwagga Smith was adjudged to have completed an illegal tackle on a Pumas player near the Bok line.
That Smith should be penalised and even carded, which he was, was maybe less debatable than whether it merited a penalty try. There didn’t appear any certainty that the hosts would score the try.
Straight after that penalty try was awarded, Argentina scored a try through Benjamin Urdapilleta off a buildup that looked like it may have included a forward pass. Suddenly there were just two points in the game and the Argentine crowd was in full voice.
The Boks were also two men down to yellow cards by then, with Willie le Roux also carded (the Pumas also had two yellow cards against them earlier), so they deserve a lot of credit for the way they maintained composure not only to thwart the strong Pumas fightback but also to regain momentum and score the two tries they suddenly needed to complete a full house of five log points.
The Boks will go to Durban next week with a 13-point gap to make up in the points differential between them and the All Blacks, so it really is all to play for at Kings Park and the Boks will know what they need to chase after the Kiwis clash with Australia in Auckland earlier in the day.
Meanwhile SA Rugby has strongly denied allegations of substance abuse within the Springbok camp or that any of the players had produced positive drugs test results.
SCORES
South Africa 36 – Tries: Jaden Hendrikse, Malcolm Marx 2 and Damian de Allende; Penalty try; Conversions: Frans Steyn 2; Penalty: Damian Willemse.
Argentina 20 – Try: Benjamin Urdapilleta; Conversion: Emiliano Boffelli; Penalty try; Penalties: Emiliano Boffelli 2.