Sacha stars as Boks thump Pumas in drama-filled Kings Park clash
MATCH REPORT: Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a whopping 37 points as the Springboks recorded a 67-30 victory over Argentina in their Rugby Championship Round Five clash in Durban on Saturday.
The bonus-point victory sent the Springboks to the top of the standings ahead of their final-round clash against the same opponents in London next weekend.
Rassie Erasmus’ side will enter that match with 15 log points, which is one point ahead of the All Blacks, who face the Wallabies in Perth.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the star of the show with his outrageous talent. He scored three tries, eight conversions and two penalty goals.
He was brilliant and unpredictable on attack and nearly racked up 200 running metres with the ball in hand. He also beats Percy Montgomery’s record for most points by a Springbok in a Test match.
The Boks were only two points ahead at half-time, but a powerful second-half display proved to be too much for the visitors.
It was a cagey affair in the opening quarter as both teams struggled to assert their dominance.
The Springboks opened the scoring in the fifth minute after Feinberg-Mngomezulu landed a long-range penalty goal. However, after applying some pressure with ball in hand, the visitors found themselves in front after 15 minutes with two three-pointers from Santiago Carreras.
A high tackle by Pablo Matera on Jasper Wiese allowed Feinberg-Mngomezulu to level the scores in the 19th before some silly offside play at a line-out six minutes later gave the Pumas a chance to regain the lead, which flyhalf Carreras duly converted.
The Springboks thought they scored a try in the 29th minute when Eben Etzebeth crossed the whitewash. However, it was eventually ruled out after the TMO spotted a knock-on by Cobus Reinach at ruck in the build-up.
However, there was a twist as the Boks were awarded a penalty due to a Pumas player kicking the ball out of Reinach’s hand, and the home side made it count with Malcolm Marx scoring a try after a powerful driving maul from a line-out.
After Feinberg-Mngomezulu hit the upright with his conversion attempt, the Pumas had a chance to regain the lead in the 35th minute, but Santiago Carreras pulled his penalty attempt wide.
That lead eventually came in the most bizarre fashion after a TMO intervention in the 36th minute.
After Cheslin Kolbe grounded the ball in his own in-goal area, he attempted to give the ball to a teammate for a restart. The ball rolled in the field of play towards Santiago Chocobares from Kolbe’s kick, and with everyone standing still, the Pumas centre dotted the ball down over the tryline.
The TMO ruled that Kolbe produced a drop kick, and the try was valid.
After a deafening silence from the crowd, the Boks hit back almost immediately when Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a ball over the Pumas’ defence before chasing it and gathering it brilliantly to score a try, which he converted.
More drama followed when the Pumas were awarded a penalty try in the 40th minute after the Boks collapsed a maul near their own tryline. Marx was also shown a yellow card for the infringement.
There was enough time for the restart, which the Pumas failed to secure, and after a couple of phases, Feinberg-Mngomezulu sliced through the Pumas’ defence for his second try.
At half-time it was 25-23 to the home side.
Some more magic from Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the catalyst for the next score in the 43rd minute – a pinpoint cross-kick from the flyhalf found Kolbe out wide and the speedster gathered the ball before racing away for his team’s fourth try.
The flyhalf completed his hat-trick in the 50th minute when he sold a huge dummy near the Pumas’ tryline before diving over for a five-pointer.
The Pumas hit back moments later when Juan Cruz Mallía scythed through the Boks’ defence before feeding the ball to Tomás Albornoz, who ran in for his team’s third try.
Bok nerves were settled a bit in the 60th minute after replacement scrumhalf Morné van den Berg dived over for a try after some powerful runs by captain Siya Kolisi and centre Damian de Allende.
There were some tired legs in the Pumas’ team in the final quarter, and the Boks took full advantage with Pieter-Steph du Toit scoring a brace and Manie Libbok also getting on the scoresheet.
Man of the match: There can only be one, and the award goes to the brilliant Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. He scored three of his team’s nine tries, and his overall tally was 37 points, which is the most by a Springbok in a Test match.
Moment of the match: You can pick any one of Sacha’s outrageous plays. Then there was also the bizarre moment in the first half when Cheslin Kolbe gifted Argentina a try in the 37th minute.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Marx, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3, Kolbe, Van den Berg, PS du Toit 2, Libbok
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 8
Pens: Feinberg-Mongomezulu 2
For Argentina:
Tries: Chocobares, Penalty Try, Albornoz.
Con: S Carreras 2
Pens: S Carreras 3
Yellow card: Malcolm Marx (South Africa, 40′ – cynical play, collapsing maul)
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 (captain), 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 Morné 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 (captain), 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 (Australia)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
