The Boks completed the Rugby Championship like they began it, with a win – this time by 38-21 (halftime 17-7) over Argentina – however they failed to rating the factors wanted to dethrone New Zealand as champions of the Southern Hemisphere.
The Boks squandered numerous alternatives and made some uncharacteristic errors within the first half, however nonetheless scored twice – by way of Jasper Wiese from a push-over scrum and Siya Kolisi from a dominant lineout maul – with Frans Steyn including each conversions and a penalty purpose to put the hosts within the lead by 17-0.
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Argentina hit again although with a transformed strive on the dying of the primary half by Gonzalo Bertranou to convey the Boks’ lead again to 10 factors.
Although the Pumas scored two extra tries within the second half – by Juan Martín González and Matías Moroni – with the circumstances deteriorating and Eben Etzebeth and Faf de Klerk within the sin bin, the Boks’ ahead dominance was merely an excessive amount of for the guests, and the hosts have been awarded two penalty tries within the second half as their marauding pack was stopped illegally on their method to the tryline.
The Boks completed on a excessive when Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed for a fifth strive to seal the win.
Scorers:
Springboks 38 (17) – Tries: Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi, Penalty tries (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Frans Steyn (3). Penalty purpose: Steyn.
Argentina 21 (7) – Tries: Gonzalo Bertranou, Juan Martín González, Matías Moroni. Conversions: Emiliano Boffelli (3).
Even earlier than kick-off, New Zealand have been odds on favourites to clinch the Rugby Championship trophy after thrashing the Wallabies earlier on Saturday. The Boks might solely edge in entrance in the event that they beat Argentina by 39 factors together with a try-scoring bonus level.
As it turned out, the Springboks by no means appeared in with a sensible probability of reaching such a giant margin of victory as they once more struggled to take stuffed with alternatives, whereas missing any actual rhythm on assault.
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Here we hand out some scores to the Boks:
Jasper Wiese (8/10)
Undoubtedly the perfect Bok on the night time, Wiese produced a standout efficiency as soon as once more, making 58m, 9 carries and beating 5 defenders.
Wiese additionally made seven tackles and one received very good turnover as he continued to show that he’s now the unequivocal first-choice No 8 for the Boks.
Siya Kolisi (7/10)
A powerful recreation from the skipper, who made 10 tackles and bought by way of a mountain of labor typically, which included 4 carries and a strive.
Ultimately Kolisi’s efforts have been sadly in useless, with the Springboks simply unable to discover any actual group cohesion.
Duane Vermeulen (6/10)
It says loads in regards to the nature of the Springboks’ disjointed efficiency that it actually proved to be troublesome to decide any actual standout gamers.
Vermeulen did add some actual power off the bench, although, and appeared determined to show some extent as he made as many as 45m in double-quick time.
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Frans Steyn (3/10)
It was all the time going to be a raffle to begin Steyn at flyhalf for the primary time since 2008, however there actually have been few different choices accessible to the Boks.
Unfortunately the veteran struggled to make an influence, uncharacteristically lacking kicks to contact within the first half, which served as an actual momentum killer for the hosts. All in all, it was only a disjoined efficiency from Steyn as he produced a collection of irritating errors.
Willie le Roux (3/10)
Le Roux has been one of many Boks’ most influential backline gamers in the course of the course of the 2022 season, however this was a recreation the place he misfired together with lots of his teammates.
The skilled fullback was most notably left greedy at air as Argentina teenager Juan Martin Gonzalez stepped round him to rating an vital strive. Ultimately, Le Roux simply couldn’t discover any of his magic touches because the Boks delivered a frustratingly stop-start show.
Springbok group: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Frans Steyn, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Argentina group: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Matias Moroni , 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Subs: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Bautista Delguy.