South Africa won their one-off Test against Argentina by 49-29, but is was by no means a vintage performance by the Springboks in only their second-ever Test in Springs, east of Johannesburg.
The home team struggled to find their rhythm, which must be alarming for coach Rudolf Straeuli, with the Tri-Nations just three weeks away.
But that was not the home team's only problem ...
Their discipline was poor, and apart from all the penalties they conceded a penalty try 10 minutes from the end to keep the Pumas' hopes of an upset victory alive.
Buoyed by 24 points from André Pretorius and two superb late tries, by Stefan Terblanché and Johannes Conradie, the Boks scored their third consecutive Test win under Straeuli.
The Sharks right-wing's five-pointer was a beauty. Werner Greeff, who had replaced Brent Russell at fullback just before half-time, brilliantly took a high ball, eluded a few tackles before passing to Pretorius who got Terblanché away for his second try of the day.
Although things got exciting towards the end, the first 20 minutes produced some of the most forgettable Test rugby seen in a long time by a South African outfit.
The 21,000-strong crowd must have wanted a ticket refund after the boring rugby that was dished up in the first quarter.
Both teams seemed content to put the ball through phases, but lost possession with handling errors or by giving away stupid penalties.
Speaking of all the penalties, Straeuli must have had some harsh words for his team at half-time, as they looked solid in the first 15 minutes after the break.
Both teams were solid in the tight phases, with the Pumas probably better in the scrums.
Bob Skinstad and Hottie Louw secured good line-out possession for the Springboks, and the Pumas' locks -- Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and Rimaz Álvarez -- also had good games.
Scrumhalf and captain Agustin Pichot marshalled his backline well, but the Boks' defence at the back was just too good.
After Pumas flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada, who missed three penalty kicks at goal in the first half, had cut down the Boks' half-time lead from 17-13 to just one point with a 55-metre penalty, Terblanché scored his first try and Pretorius added the conversion as well as two penalties with his trusty right boot.
At 30-16 the Springboks looked to be cruising, but the Pumas -- via the boot of Quesada and the penalty try -- clawed their way back to 37-29 before Terblanché and Conradie, who replaced the Craig Davidson, sealed the Boks' win.
The home team could have been further ahead, but the Argentineans hit back and scored all their points in the last 10 minutes before half-time.
At that stage the Boks were ahead courtesy of two tries -- by local boy Adrian Jacobs and the Sharks' Davidson -- scored in the 23rd and 27th minute respectively.
Jacobs's was a beauty after Bob Skinstad won back the ball after Diego Albanese failed to control an up-and-under from Davidson. The Boks spun the ball wide to the speedy Falcon, who scored in front of his home town crowd, much to his, and their, delight.
Pretorius, who missed only two from 10 kicks at goal, converted both and added a 21st-minute penalty to set the crowd alight as their favourite team seemed to be finding their feet after the Pumas had dominated the opening exchanges.
But as the Boks' concentration slipped, so did their discipline and the visitors hit back through a try by Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and a conversion and two penalties by ever-reliable Quesada.
But the thin highveld air and the Boks' superior fitness towards the end did not help the Pumas as they saw the result slip from their claws.
Man of the match: Following hot on the heels of SA A flyhalf Butch James's performance against Argentina during the week, André Pretorius showed that he was not going to let go of his No.10 jersey without a fight. His distribution was superb, and he is very fast of the mark as well as a fearless defender. And there is nothing wrong with his goalkicking either. When last have we seen a Bok Test flyhalf sport and 80-percent kicking record from 10 attempts.
Moment of the match: Moments after the referee had awarded a penalty try to the Pumas, the Boks hit back. It started with Werner Greeff taking a high ball, twisting his way out of a tackle and speeding up-field before feeding Pretorius, who went to the deck but got the ball out to Terblanché to round off a great counter-attacking move.
Villain of the match: Every single player -- in Green and Gold and Blue and White -- who conceded stupid penalties. There were too many to name here, and they certainly didn't help the game to deliver as a spectacle.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 James Dalton, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 Hottie Louw, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Corne Krige (c), 8 Bobby Skinstad, 9 Craig Davidson, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Adi Jacobs, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Brent Russell
Reserves: Werner Greeff, Faan Rautenbach, Bolla Conradie, Quinton Davids, Daan Human, Marius Joubert, Joe Van Niekerk
Argentina: 1 Roberto Grau, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot (c), 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves: Martin Durand, Omar Hasan Jalil, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Lucas Ostiglia
Unused: Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Jose Nunez Piossek
Referee: Erickson w.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Tries: Davidson C.D. 1, Jacobs A.A. 1, Conradie J.H. 1, Pretorius A.S. 1, Terblanche C.S. 2
Conv: Pretorius A.S. 5
Pen K.: Pretorius A.S. 3
Argentina
Tries: Fernandez Lobbe C.I. 1, Penalty Try 1
Conv: Quesada G. 2
Pen K.: Quesada G. 5
No comments:
Post a Comment