Boks fall short in Argentina

The Rugby Championship will be decided in the lowveld next weekend after the Springboks slipped to their second defeat of the year on Saturday evening.

Argentina beat the Springboks 29-28 in a lively contest that went down to the wire but the visitors will lament not strangling the hosts out of the contest.

The Springboks bossed the scrums and though they profited at times, they perhaps did not take full toll for their dominance in that facet.

They were also left to rue a missed penalty in the 79th minute when substitute Manie Libbok dragged his relatively straight forward kick wide of the left upright.

The win was historic for Argentina as it completed a full set of victories against all three of their Rugby Championship rivals in the same season.

After recording a fourth ever win over the Boks they will travel to Mbombela with chests out.

The Boks made a near perfect start playing with power, poise and precision and struck up a 17-0 lead inside the first 12 minutes.

The Springboks demolished Los Pumas in the first scrum and from the resultant penalty they pounced with Jesse Kriel running a dummy line, Lukhanyo Am shifting to Pollard who deftly found a speeding Aphelele Fassi who rounded off.

Pollard's second conversion meant he became the second-highest points scorer for the Springboks.

The Boks were firmly in the ascendancy and they looked destined to stretch their advantage on the scoreboard.

The free-flowing nature of the game however played into the hosts' hands and just as the Boks were hitting their stride, Los Pumas got a spring in their step.

The hosts showed their try-scoring prowess in the 15th minute when inside centre Santiago Chocobares slipped a Marco van Staden tackle to create an overlap which wing Mateo Carreras accepted with glee.

The Boks suffered an even bigger body blow when wing Kurt-Lee Arendse was yellow-carded in the 18th minute and that served to confirm the momentum shift. A man down the Boks found it difficult to contain the blood-smelling Pumas.

The hosts drew confidence and pounced four minutes later when they created another overlap and this time it was veteran flank Pablo Matera who streaked clear for their second converted try.

Soon after Los Pumas salvaged a line-out variation that appeared to be heading for touch but they smuggled the ball back in time allowing tight-head prop Joel Sclavi to crash over.

Tomas Albornoz was the beneficiary of more Argentina pressure when he sold a dummy as part of the finishing touches to the hosts' fourth try.

Before the Boks knew it they had fallen behind.

In the second half things settled down. Malcolm Marx, Ben-Jason Dixon, Jesse Kriel and Ox Nche helped the Boks dig in before the bench appeared to turn things around.

Eben Etzebeth made some crucial interventions on his record-equalling 127th appearance for the Springboks, Jaden Hendrikse brought urgency from behind the pack, Jan-Hendrik Wessels ran into the heart of the Argentina defence, while Libbok kicked some testing contestables to heap pressure onto the hosts.

Cobus Reinach's quick tap caught Los Pumas napping when his diagonal run took him away from the home team's defenders.

Pollard added a second penalty before the Boks turned to their bench in the 46th minute. Libbok added another in his first meaningful act after emerging from the bench.

The hosts however dug in and again edged ahead and held on for the win.

Overall, however, the 10 changes that were made to the Bok team left them short of the composure that was required to see out a tight contest.

The Bok line-out again fell a little short of the authority they crave and missing key personnel in their second row is starting to leave its mark.

This defeat may well slip from memory when the Boks restore their tried and tested Rugby World Cup winners and go on to win the Rugby Championship next weekend, though for those who stayed up it might take a little longer.

Scorers

Argentina (26) 29

Tries: Mateo Carreras, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi, Tomas Albornoz. Conversions: Albornoz 3. Penalty: Albornoz.

SA (22) 28

Tries: Aphelele Fassi, Jesse Kriel, Cobus Reinach. Conversions: Handré Pollard 2. Penalties: Pollard 2, Manie Libbok.