History-making Boks make it back-to-back Rugby Championship titles
MATCH REPORT: South Africa retained the Rugby Championship back-to-back for the first time.
The Springboks beat Los Pumas 29-27 at the Allianz Stadium in London on Saturday, with Malcom Marx and Cobus Reinach both scoring a brace of tries.
They won the competition with a superior points difference and in the end didn’t need a bonuspoint victory.
The back-to-back World Champions managed to win the toughest Rugby Championship to date back-to-back and remain No.1 in the world.
It was a bumpy start for the Springboks as Canan Moodie got his marching orders in the first minute of the game due to a head clash in contact.
This gave Argentina a great attacking opportunity.
They opted to run the ball, spread it wide, but the Boks turned over possession.
It was wave after wave again from Los Pumas, and the Boks scrambled to defend in their 22.
It worked out well, and they got the first try as the Boks ran out of numbers as Bautista Delguy went over in the corner.
The second scrum was a monster by the Springboks, and they launched their first attack.
A penalty in front of the sticks was punished by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for their first three-pointer of the game.
But the Springboks remained under pressure, once more defending in the 22, but the jackal Malcolm Marx was all over the ball.
Los Pumas were on fire and got right back in the Boks’ danger zone, winning a penalty in the far corner.
They found touch on the corner flag, and from the lineout were stretched thin to stop the gaps.
Another penalty followed in front of the uprights, and they calmed things down with a successful kick to stretch their lead to 10-3.
A cheeky grubber by Cheslin Kolbe sent the Boks up to the five metres, and from the lineout, Cobus Reinach nearly intercepted.
A scrum in the danger zone for the Boks was yet another opportunity for the men in green and gold.
It was reset, and then a penalty followed after the Springboks exerted tremendous pressure.
Finally, the try came with Cobus Reinach diving over from a strong Bok scrum.
At halftime, South Africa was trailing 10-13.
The first few minutes of the second half saw Argentina’s forward Mayco Vivas being handed a yellow card for a high tackle on Eben Etzebeth.
With one man less in the maul for Los Pumas, the Springboks took advantage, and then Marx edged himself over on the blindside to dot down in the corner.
For the first time in the game, the Springboks were in front, leading 15-13 after the conversion was wide.
With a fresh front row on the field, on the 50-minute mark, the Boks executed another powerful scrum.
A touchfinder into the corner saw South Africa launch another maul.
Reinach finished off the phases that saw the big men drive inches forward.
The flags were raised after the kick, and the Boks took their lead further ahead to 22-13.
Eight minutes later, Marx scored his second try after Markus Kremer was penalised for tackling Sacha high.
Having done a sterling job, Marx was replaced by Bongi Mbonambi.
At this stage, Los Pumas have had several warnings from referee Andrea Piardi, the pressure from the Boks causing a lot of frustration.
A silly pass by Kolbe resulted in Delguy getting his second after snatching the ball in midfield.
With ten minutes to go, it was a nine-point game as the Boks were leading 29-20.
A late tackle by Jan-Hendrik Wessels offered Los Pumas the chance to crawl their way closer.
Carreras’ kick hit the uprights, and it might have been the wrong option.
South Africa must have thought the game was in the bag, but Carreras had other ideas and sent a hanging kick into the hands of Rodrigo Isgro, who dotted down.
Full-time score: South Africa 29, Argentina 27
Moment of the match: Cobus Reinach’s try just before halftime swung the momentum for the Springboks. After relentless attack in the red zone, the try finally came.
Player of the Match: Cobus Reinach. The nuggety scrumhalf scored two tries, but also tackled and chased all day.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Tries: Delguy 2, Isgro
Cons: Carreras 3
Pens: Carreras 2
For South Africa:
Tries: Reinach 2, Marx 2
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3
Pens: Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Yellow cards: Canan Moodie (South Africa, 1’ – head clash); Mayco Vivas (Argentina, 42’ – high tackle).
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Cruz Mallia, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Simon Cruz Benitez, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Tomas Rapetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Gonzalez, 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 (captain), 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 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Jesse Kriel.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
