Argentina still in with a chance of Rugby Championship victory

Argentina’s record-breaking win over Australia on Saturday has kept alive hopes of a first-ever triumph in the Rugby Championship, though they will have to upend world champions South Africa twice to win this year’s competition.

The 67-27 thrashing of the Wallabies in Santa Fe, where Argentina came storming back from a 17-point deficit and ran in nine tries, handed them a bonus five-point haul and moved them into second place in the standings with 10 points.

The Pumas, who have won two and lost two of four matches in this year’s competition, trail the Springboks by eight points and must win both their last two fixtures to overtake them.

Argentina host the World Cup winners in Santiago del Estero in a fortnight before travelling to South Africa for their last game in Nelspruit on September 28.

Argentina have completed 12 Rugby Championships since the expansion of the Tri-Nations series between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 2012, and in that time never been in a position to win the title with two matches to go.

They have finished last nine times, but now face a dramatic tussle for the title with South Africa, who have already said they will split their squad into two separate units for the two tests.

RECORD WIN

Saturday’s record win for the Pumas in the competition came only a week after they lost 20-19 to the Wallabies in La Plata and emphasised the erratic nature of their rugby — full of flair, brilliance and forward power one moment, and bogged down by silly errors and indiscipline the next.

There is no doubting their mental strength, however, as they were 20-3 down after the first half-hour in Santa Fe, then ran in 38 unanswered points to turn the clash on its head.

“We talked at halftime about imposing what we wanted to do. The truth is that they did it very well. It was an almost impeccable second half,” coach Felipe Contepomi told reporters afterwards.

“For me, the key is not to focus on the result. We want to measure ourselves by our actions and evaluate ourselves by what we say we're going to do and how we do it.

“That's why I say at the beginning it was a bit strange — because we confused conviction with madness.”