South Africa squeak past Pumas

Two second-half penalties from Morné Steyn saw South Africa come from behind to win 22-17 in a brutal match against Argentina.

The Springboks were unable to produce the same clinical finishing that saw them rack up so many point last weekend, sucked into a breakdown battle that they often lost until Steyn's boot prevailed in the closing stages.

Argentina, as widely expected, were completely unrecognisable from the sham that turned up at Soccer City last weekend and conceded nine tries.

A repeat of last weekend's 73-13 hammering in Soweto was always unlikely, with Argentina far more productive at containing the Springboks at the breakdown and in the set-pieces.

The hosts general attitude though was outstanding, taking the game to a South Africa side whose execution was far from the excellent level produced the week before.

Mendoza was the setting for the 18-18 draw between these two sides last season and once more South Africa looked unsettled early on.

The hosts couldn't have wished for a better start.  Capitalising on loose ball at the ruck, Argentina surged upfield and from an attacking lineout five metres out they unleashed a clever rolling maul, with Juan Manuel Leguizamon touching down despite a hint of obstruction inside the opening three minutes.

Steyn and Felipe Contepomi traded penalties before the Springboks drew level, Bjorn Basson finding his way over after a harried turnover at the ruck created an overlap on the left-hand side.

It was a score that perhaps would have eluded a maturing South Africa side a year ago, but the 2013 version is a different beast and made the most of this rare chance.

Juandré Kruger's try was ruled out for an earlier knock-on at the lineout closely after Ruan Pienaar was also denied a score, beaten to the bounce in the dead-ball area by Martin Landajo.

South Africa were struggling to find the fluidity that served them so well a week before and their attitude was puzzling;  a poor decision to opt for the corner instead of a simple penalty backfired on the Boks as an easy three points went begging with 25 minutes gone.

Their attack was also littered with knock-ons, with every single one giving the home side and their supporters renewed hope.

That hope was then converted into a second try;  centre Marcelo Bosch forcing his way over through the tackle of Jannie du Plessis to put the Pumas up 17-10, Steyn responding with a long-range penalty before half-time.

Fired up by a rollicking from Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks were reinvigorated after the break and another Steyn penalty cut the deficit to just one point.

The penalty count began to creep up on the Pumas as the second half wore on, who showed at times too much enthusiasm at the breakdown.

Contepomi's departure with a shoulder injury felt like hammerblow to Argentina's prospects, but the continued tenacity shown by the hosts at the ruck meant that they kept their slender lead.

Repetitive small errors didn't help to calm what was already a tempestuous atmosphere and young lock Eben Etzebeth was penalised for lashing out, due to his unhappiness over a reported bite from an Argentinian player.

Experience was introduced in the form of Bismarck du Plessis, who won his 50th cap off the bench and capped it with a series of effective choke tackles to stifle Argentina's possession — but the Boks were still facing an uphill battle.

Steyn's penalty in the 71st minute after a collapsed maul finally put South Africa ahead for the first time in the match — a slender two-point lead silencing the crowd as the match drew to a close.

Desperate to create a final opportunity, Argentina failed to produce the necessary field position to generate a penalty or drop goal, instead finding themselves pinned back in their own 22.

Steyn's final penalty confirmed the result, but Argentina should take heart from an encouraging performance, despite their first win in The Rugby Championship still eluding them against an average South African performance.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries:  Leguizamon, Bosch
Cons:  Contepomi 2
Pen:  Contepomi

For South Africa:
Try:  Basson
Con:  Steyn
Pens:  Steyn 5

Argentina:  15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolís Sínchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamí³n, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Julio Farías Cabello, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú,1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Tomas Lavaninni, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Tomís Cubelli, 21 Santiago Ferníndez, 22 Joaquin Tuculet.

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip Van Der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Date:  Saturday, August 24
Venue:  Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Kick-off:  16.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee:  Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees:John Lacey (Ireland), Pascal Gauzí¨re (France)
TMO:  Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup

New Zealand secured the Bledisloe Cup for the 11th straight year after beating Australia 27-16 in Wellington on Saturday.

The Wallabies were more competitive than last weekend's encounter in Sydney but the All Blacks made better use of their opportunities which sealed their victory.

Australia started the match brightly and after setting up 14 phases, close to New Zealand's try-line, Christian Lealiifano got the game's first points, from the kicking tee, after Owen Franks was pinned for not rolling away at a ruck.

That penalty seemed to be the cue for the home side to come alive and for the next five minutes they had the Wallabies under the cosh, but crucially, failed to add any points.

First a sniping break from Ben Smith, inside the Wallabies' half, put Julian Savea into space but a text-book tackle from Israel Folau forced the big number 11 into touch at the corner flag.

Two minutes later it was Israel Dagg who tore Australia's defence to shreds.  He ghosted past three defenders but a wayward pass failed to find a team-mate and although Matt Toomua was penalised for not rolling away at a ruck, Tom Taylor missed with the shot at goal.

The Wallabies upped the ante during the next 15 minutes but failed to cross the whitewash.  Their only points came via a penalty from Lealiifano in the 27th minute.  This after the inside centre ran onto a pass from Stephen Moore, midway between the halfway line and the All Blacks' 22, before being stopped five metres short of the try-line by Aaron Smith, who was penalised for not releasing Lealiifano on the ground.

The All Blacks struck back from the kick-off when Sydney hat-trick hero Ben Smith scored his fourth try in two weeks.  This after good hand speed from Conrad Smith and Steven Luatua put him in the clear down the right-hand touchline.  Smith still had work to do and his pace proved too much for the cover defense who failed to lay a finger on him as he touched down.

Taylor added the extras to give the All Blacks a 7-6 lead but Australia were still competitive.  The visitors thought they had an opportunity to regain the lead in 32nd minute, when Andrew Hore, was pinned for not releasing a tackled player on the ground.  The hooker's infringement was within Lealiifano's goal-kicking range but referee Jaco Peyper reversed his decision after Ben Mowen held Brodie Retallick back — off the ball — in the build-up.

Five minutes later, Taylor gave the All Blacks a 10-6 lead, after another Wallaby infringement at a ruck and the fly-half had an opportunity to add another three-pointer shortly afterwards — after Moore played the ball after not retreating from a Genia up-and-under — but although his effort from the halfway mark had the distance, it was just wide of the mark.

On the stroke of half-time, Luatua broke clear, deep inside the Wallabies' 22, and when he was stopped just short of the try-line, the ball was spun wide and Dagg did well to draw in the defence before offloading to rightwing Smith, who got in for his second try in the corner.

New Zealand took an 15-6 lead into the break and although the Wallabies were still competitive they couldn't match the intensity of the world champions.

Like in the first half, Australia were once again quicker out of the starting blocks after the restart.  James O'Connor launched an attack which had the All Blacks at sixes and sevens, inside their 22, but opted to break infield when he could have offloaded to Genia on his outside.

Taylor extended his side's lead, from the kicking tee, after the Wallabies were pinned for a scrum infringement, but Lealiifano cancelled it out with a penalty of his own after several All Blacks strayed offside at a ruck.

New Zealand added two further penalties through Taylor in the 61st and 70th minutes after the Wallabies were punished for infringements at a scrum and ruck respectively but the Wallabies were given a lifeline when Israel Folau scored their only try thanks to a superb piece of individualism.

The speedster intercepted a wayward pass from Nonu on his 22-metre line and raced away before beating Israel Dagg with an outrageous side-step before scoring next to the posts.

Lealiifano converted but it was too little too late and Dagg sealed the win with his first-ever Test penalty from in front of the posts five minutes before full-time.

Man of the Match:  There were several candidates in the All Black pack, who were in charge in the second half.  A special mention goes to Tony Woodcock, who was dominant in the scrums and Steven Luatua for a superb showing on defence and attack.  But our vote goes to Aaron Smith who got New Zealand's back-line firing with his nippy service, and superb decision-making.  He also won his personal duel with Will Genia which is no mean feat.

Moment of the Match:  With the score at 10-6, the Wallabies were still in with a shout but Ben Smith's second try put the visitors further on the back-foot and knocked the wind out of their sails.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing to report here as both sides went at each other in a hard but fair manner.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B Smith 2
Con:  Taylor
Pens:  Taylor 4, Dagg

For Australia:
Try:  Folau
Con:  Lealiifano
Pen:  Lealiifano 3

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Tom Taylor, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (capt), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Charles Piutau.

Australia:  15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

Referee:  Jaco Peyper

Boks score 73 against Argentina

South Africa opened their 2013 Rugby Championship season with a mightily impressive nine-try 73-13 victory over Argentina in Soweto on Saturday.

Quite simply, the Boks were dominant and had this result sewn up after half-an-hour before the floodgates opened and the Pumas shut down.

South Africa, despite struggling to get into their stride early on, were too good as they looked to start the Rugby Championship term strongly.

Two penalties from Morne Steyn set them on their way before Argentina lost influential lock Patricio Albacete to an injury on thirteen minutes.  That left them with just one notable jumper in the line-out and with the Springboks strong in the set-piece, the Pumas were always going to struggle.

It told as when Steyn and Felipe Contepomi had traded shots to make it 9-6, the lack of territory was too much for the Pumas.  Eusebio Guinazu was the man caught out as he slapped down a pass to Ruan Pienaar which led to a penalty try being given.  Steyn sent over the extra two points, with hooker Guinazu duly sent to the sin-bin.

At 16-6, the Boks were on their way and doubled their try account soon after when Willie le Roux's chip over the top from deep saw JJ Engelbrecht collect and stroll over for seven points that became only four minutes later.  The net result was a 26-6 half-time scoreline.

Things would not improve for the Pumas seven minutes after the restart when Adriaan Strauss powered over off the back of a driving maul, stretching the lead to 27 points after the conversion.  The Boks were now just one try away from joining the All Blacks on five points.

Leonardo Senatore was the second player to take a spell in the bin when his tip-tackle on Engelbrecht saw him shown yellow on 50 minutes.  Unsurprisingly the hosts made the eight pay for his indiscretion too as Willem Alberts was next to cross on the back of a maul.

South Africa would strike while the iron was hot too when Jean de Villiers intercepted a pass before running in to touch down as the margin grew to 45-6.  And the trend would continue with Argentina on the receiving end of yet more tries through Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and Duane Vermuelen who added the gloss before Bismarck du Plessis' score.

Contepomi did cross for Argentina but it will not paper over the cracks left by this loss.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try:  Penalty, Engelbrecht, Strauss, Alberts, De Villiers, Du Preez, Habana, Vermeulen, B du Plessis
Con:  Steyn 8
Pen:  Steyn 4

For Argentina:
Try:  Contepomi
Con:  Contepomi
Pen:  Contepomi 2
Yellow:  Guinazo (29 minutes), Senatore (50 minutes)

South Africa:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:  16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrí¶ Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip Van Der Merwe, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Matias Diaz, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Juan Figallo.
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Julio Farias Cabello, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Horacio Agulla.

Super All Blacks rampant in Sydney

An outstanding match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney saw New Zealand clinch a try-scoring bonus-point 47-29 win over Australia.

The All Blacks kept hold of the lead for the majority of the match as both teams played with great width and endeavour throughout, a classic performance featuring eight tries in total, including a hat-trick for Ben Smith and a length-of-the-field classic from Will Genia.

The occasion marked the return of Richie McCaw to the international stage and he hardly shunned the limelight, ever-present at the breakdown throughout and a try scorer too as he proved that none of his magic had been lost during a six-month sabbatical.

As Test matches go in 2013, the overall quality was at times a cut above — with both the Wallabies and All Blacks underlining why Bledisloe Cup matches are constantly pencilled into diaries.

In the end however, with six tries in the bag away from home and 47 points scored, this was New Zealand's night.

Cruden's perfect slight of hand gave Ben Smith the space he needed to run around into the corner and grab the game's first try after only three minutes.

A mis-timed leap then handed the Wallabies their first points when Lealiifano stroked over a penalty, a second arriving minutes later when the returning McCaw was penalised for going off his feet.

Played out at a relentless tempo, it was Australia who started brighter despite conceding that early try — although Michael Hooper and Andrew Hore both made key interventions for theirs sides at the breakdown in defence.

McCaw gradually flourished as he grew into the match, winning a penalty at the breakdown that allowed Cruden to stretch the score to 10-6 in the All Blacks' favour at the close of the opening quarter.  He wasn't perfect though — another breakdown penalty offence letting Lealiifano close the gap.

The introduction of the new scrum laws saw less resets, but more free-kicks as both Aaron Smith and Will Genia were caught out for not feeding straight into the scrum.

McCaw's mixed fortunes continued with another discrepancy, again on the deck, as Lealiifano put Australia in front for the first time.  It was a lead that lasted less than a minute — the Brumbies inside centre's kick was soon charged down by Cruden, who only had to flop on the bouncing ball to score the All Blacks' second try.

It was a moment that woke New Zealand up — McCaw, who else, crashing over in the right-hand corner from a divine Conrad Smith pass to become the first New Zealand forward to rack up over 100 Test points.

Two tries in five minutes;  the work of a ruthless side and a 22-12 lead for the world champions.

Australia needed something and a loose line-out from Hore was snaffled up by Hooper at the base, finding Genia — who blazed his way past the All Blacks' two Aarons down the right wing, before skipping inside for a remarkable 75-metre try.

It was a score to rival his magnificent effort in the Super Rugby Final two years ago.  A further Cruden penalty left the half-time score at 25-19.

Lealiifano's fifth penalty at the beginning of the second half kept the Wallabies very much in contention for the lead, a three-pointer that came before a completely frantic passage of play.

Both sides breathlessly attacked, culminating in the two of the Smiths combining — Aaron feeding Conrad who scuttled his way in under the sticks for the try bonus point and a 32-22 lead for New Zealand.  With Ben Smith's second try a few minutes later, after good work from blindside Steven Luatua to disrupt a Wallaby scrum, this contest was over.

Quade Cooper's introduction to a chorus of boos felt like a last throw of the dice from new Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie, but there was to be no pay-off.

Instead Ben Smith sealed a memorable hat-trick;  a moment the man from Otago will never forget after the ball squeezed out of a Wallaby ruck and the Highlander cantered down the right wing to finish.

O'Connor crossed for a consolation try after the hooter but Australian minds were already on next weekend — a re-match in Wellington against the world champions and a chance to bounce back.  New Zealand will be lying in wait, purring.

Man of the Match:  Long live the King.  Richie McCaw returned to Test rugby with one of his defining performances in an All Black jersey.  He was everywhere.

Moment of the Match:  It might have been an effort in defeat, but Will Genia's blitzer brought Australia screaming back into the contest at the end of the first-half.

Villain of the Match:  Nothing nasty to report, although Quade Cooper must have thought he was in a pantomime.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Genia, O'Connor
Cons:  Lealiifano 2
Pens:  Lealiifano 5

For New Zealand:
Tries:  B.Smith 3, Cruden, McCaw, C.Smith
Cons:  Cruden 4
Pens:  Cruden 3

Australia:  15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 James O'Connor, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements:  16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

New Zealand:  15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ryan Crotty.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Lourens Van Der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO:  Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)