Stats paint clear picture of Boks' frailties
STATISTICAL SPOTLIGHT: Duane Vermeulen captained the Springboks in what is potentially his final home appearance in the Green and Gold.
However, it is a match he would rather forget.
South Africa managed to grind out a narrow 22-21 victory over Argentina in the Rugby Championship at Ellis Park at the weekend, but the statistics tell the tale of the Boks losing most areas of the match.
Springbok captain Duane Vermeulen talked at length about the lack of discipline at the post-match press conference.
His team conceded 12 penalties to the 10 of the visitors.
Add the yellow card issued to Damien de Allende in the 72nd minute and it paints a picture of the struggles they endured on the day.
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“It was a stop-start game for us, and I think our discipline wasn’t great,” Vermeulen said.
“Sometimes penalties just happen and then you get those avoidable penalties that you shouldn’t give away.
“I think that [avoidable penalties] was the tough thing for us to manage on the pitch – for every single player, not just for me as captain.
“If you take away those avoidable penalties, it would have been a better game for us,” Vermeulen added.
“You’ve got to give credit to Argentina.
“We saw how they won against Australia and against us in Durban last year they came back with a massive onslaught and scored a couple of late tries at the end.
“They play for 80 minutes and we had to keep up, but we’re happy with the win and we’ll take it from here.”
On attack, the Springboks only managed 92 passes, compared to the Los Pumas’ 184.
In the ball carries department, Argentina had 140 and the South Africans only 84.
The Springboks were also down on the number of turn-overs won – with five to six of Argentina.
South Africa, generally known for its strong scrumming, only managed to win 67 percent of the scrums awarded to them.
And while they won five turnovers, they lost 20 turnovers compared to the eight of Argentina.
The Boks also had a difficult time containing the Los Pumas as they were made to make 170 tackles, but missed 25 tackles compared to the 16 of Argentina.
