An at times exhilarating and at times haphazard Springbok team scraped to a hard fought 37-33 win over Argentina in a one off Test played at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires.
River Plate Stadium is usually a venue for soccer and in an encouraging sign for Argentinean rugby the stadium was packed with over 45,000 fans as enthusiastic and colourful as any soccer crowd.
Coming into the cauldron just before kick off the Boks must have felt what it's like to be the visitors at Ellis Park as they were met by a deafening wall of sound which only increased minutes later with the entry of the beloved Los Pumas.
With buckets of confetti raining down on to the field and large flags unfurling in the breeze the Boks would have been well aware they were in for a match.
From the kick-off it was clear the Springbok's new coach Harry Viljoen had given the team clear directions to hold onto the ball at all costs with South Africa opting to run the ball out from their own line through five phases when a clearing kick would have been a much safer option.
Eventually a long Joost van der Westhuizen pass across his posts saw André Venter trapped five metres out and forced to concede a penalty. Flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada goaled for the Pumas to take a well received 3-0 lead.
Despite the disastrous start the Boks stuck to their game plan and seven nmiutes later their high risk approach paid off with a try to Western Province wing Breyton Paulse.
From a Bok line-out on their own 10 metre line, half breaks from Van der Westhuizen and new flyhalf Percy Montgomerey, saw fullback Thinus Delport away on the left hand side before sending Paulse in for the try.
Montgomery missed the conversion but two minutes later Paulse was over again.
Again from a line-out and a good throw from hooker John Smit, surprisingly preferred in the line-up to Charl Marais, found lock Albert van den Berg with a pinpoint throw. Again a half break from Montgomery saw Smit set up a ruck about 20 metres out from the Pumas line.
Van der Westhuizen put Venter through a gap before he linked with fellow flanker Corné Krige who once again found Paulse in support for the Province speedster to go over for his second try. Montgomery landed the conversion to put South Africa out 12-3.
The no kicking, keep the ball at all costs, high risk Viljoen game plan was clicking into overdrive and it seemed the Pumas were in for a drubbing. But it was the Pumas who were to strike back immediately.
From the deep kick off South Africa again refused to kick the ball out of trouble and after several phases prop Robbie Kempson spilt the ball on his own 22. Clever work from live wire Pumas scumhalf Agustin Pichot put centre Jose Orengo down the right touchline before crashing through Bok winger Chester Williams to score.
Quesada landed the conversion from near the touchline and the Boks new game plan had scored 12 points but conceded ten in just the first 14 minutes.
With the Boks playing such a high tempo ball in hand approach the Pumas dreaded "bajada" (eight man shove) in the scrum was taken out of the equation giving South Africa free reign to express their creativity.
Everytime the Boks went wide they seemed to rip holes in the flimsy Pumas defence with centre Robbie Fleck, Williams and Delport all prominent. With good service from Van der Westhuizen and Montgomery dangerous with the ball in hand it seemed only a matter of time till the Boks scored again.
And in the 28th minute it was Delport who broke away after some good lead up work once more from Smit. Delport's pass was knocked down but smart work from Paulse saw the ball scooped up and fed to lock Mark Andrews who had a free run to the line.
It was a fitting moment for Andrews in his record 65th Test, scoring his first try since the Tri-Nations in 1997. Montgomery landed the conversion to take the Boks out to a 19-10 lead.
Seven minutes later the Boks extended their lead after a Pumas line out ball was pinched by Van den Berg. The ball came wide to Williams who linked with Krige. The ball came back mid-field and centre Braam van Straaten, who had come on only minutes before for Grant Esterhuizen, crashed over.
Montgomery missed the conversion but at 24-10 up after 35 minutes the Boks were cruising. Two penalty goals fromn Quesada pegged the Boks lead back to 24-16 at the half time break.
Some bright, enterprising rugby in the first half from the Boks and with the rare distinction of not resorting to one kick in the entire period the instruction from Viljoen to his men must have been more of the same in the second stanza.
But straight from the kick off the Boks grip on the game began to slip, due mainly to a far more spirited performance from the Pumas who finally gave their home crowd something to cheer about.
It may also have been due to the planned substitutions of Pieter Rossouw for Williams and Marais for Smit that seemed to disrupt the Bok pattern.
The substitution of Marais seemed particularly odd as it was thought Marais would be used in the first half to give the Boks extra strength in the scrum and that the second half, as the game opened up, would far better suit the mobile Smit.
The young Natal hooker had held his own in the scrums in an impresive display and indeed some of the Boks' first half flair seemed to disappear with him.
Quesada landed another penalty in the second minute of the half to bring the Pumas to 24-19 but the Boks were to go further ahead ten minutes later.
With his first real chance Rossouw cut through the Argentinean line to send Paulse and then captain André Vos towards the Pumas tryline. The ball came across field to Venter, who ran nicely out wide for large sections of the match, who found Fleck coming at pace at the perfect angle.
He went in under the posts to put the Boks out to a 29-19 lead, 31-19 with Montgomery's conversion. From here it seemed the script read the Boks to run away with it but that would not be counting on the resolve of the Pumas, sparked into life by the brilliant Pichot.
In fact that was to be the Boks last try of the match as they lost their nerve and their shape as the half wore on, resorting to pointless kicks that gave the Pumas back the ball in good attacking positions.
It was 25 minutes into the second half before the Boks kicked the ball for the first time but after that they were to nearly reach double figures in kicks as the new born baby of Viljoen's game plan well and truly went out with the bathwater.
The Pumas ball retention improved markedly keeping the ball for long stretches with a relentless short passing, hard driving game. Their patience were rewarded when substitute Felipe Contemponi burst onto a Pichot pass before brushing off Van Straaten and Delport to score under the posts.
The conversion from Quesada and the Pumas were within a try at 31-26. Sensing an upset the crowd began to urge their heroes on more and more with the cacophony inside the ground rising to deafening levels.
Van Straaten gave the Boks breathing space with a penalty goal but the increased lead was short lived with Pichot again sparking a third try. A half break down the right saw Quesada freed before making a beautiful flick pass to substitute Eduardo Simone who beat the cover defence with a superb angled run to the line.
The Quesada conversion brough the Pumas within a point with only minutes to play. Another van Straaten penalty under extreme pressure took the Boks back out to a four point lead but the Pumas were not done yet.
Repeatedly they drove at the Bok line in the final minutes with only the strength of Andrews, Venter and substitute Ollie le Roux keeping them at bay. A clever turnover from Krige snubbed out the Pumas last chance with Paulse almost increasing the lead in the final seconds, narrowly missing out on an opportunist try after a Marais kick through.
In the end the Boks had achieved a victory but in the process they conceded a record 33 points to Argentina and gave Viljoen the first of many heart failures.
If the Boks were guilty of anything it was a lack of confidence, as it was only when they wavered and departed from their original game plan that the Pumas came back into the match.
The old problems still remain -- Vos' leadership under pressure (at times in the second half it seemed Andrews was the captain), Van Straaten's lack of creativity, Montgomery's unpredictability and Van der Westhuizen's reduced speed -- but among the negatives there were also some positives in the first foray of the Viljoen era.
The Boks have much to do and as they depart for Britain tomorrow, the traditional powers of Ireland, Wales and England will fancy their chances of a rare win against the tentative super power.
The next month is make or break time for the Springboks and they will need to be at their best if they are to return to South Africa with pride intact.
Man of the match: Although on the losing side, Puma scrumhalf Agustin Pichot was a constant threat making the most of limited opportunities with some darting runs and clever distribution. With his excellent vision, pace and quick silver service Pichot is fast establishing himself as the number one scrumhalf in world rugby.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Robbie Kempson, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Percy Montgomery, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Chester Williams, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves: Ollie Le Roux, Charl Marais, Pieter Rossouw, Braam Van Straaten
Unused: A.J. Venter, Hottie Louw, Dan Van Zyl
Argentina: 1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Ignacio Corletto
Reserves: Felipe Contepomi, Martin Durand, Roberto Grau, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Eduardo Simone
Unused: Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Guillermo Ugartemendia
Attendance: 60000
Referee: Young s.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Tries: Andrews M.G. 1, Fleck R.F. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Van Straaten A.J.J. 1
Conv: Montgomery P.C. 3
Pen K.: Van Straaten A.J.J. 2
Argentina
Tries: Arbizu L. 1, Contepomi F. 1, Orengo J. 1
Conv: Quesada G. 3
Pen K.: Quesada G. 4
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