South Africa's renaissance continued when they thumped Argentina 37-15 in their opening Rugby Championship clash in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
After whipping France 3-0 in the June international test series, the Boks stayed on the winning track in front of 42,513 raucous fans at a packed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. South Africa scored four tries and the loudest roar came when local hero and Zwide-born Siya Kolisi crashed over after 65 minutes to put the Boks into a commanding 28-15 lead.
Towards the end, the Boks were running rampant against a Los Pumas side clearly flagging in the face of the total onslaught.It was the ideal start to the competition for the Springboks who are trying to exorcise the ghosts of 2016 when they could win only four of 12 matches. One of those nightmare defeats came against Saturday's opponents, who shocked the Boks 26-24 in Salta.
The victory Saturday also meant the Boks maintained their unbeaten record at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium which goes back to 2011.
South Africa made a bright start and were intent on spreading the ball wide in the opening exchanges of a tight first half.
Cool-headed Elton Jantjies put the first points on the board for the Boks after 11 minutes when he nailed a penalty from 40m.
The Boks were playing at a fast tempo and had the edge in the territorial battle which left the Pumas scrambling in defence.
The pressure earned South Africa another penalty after 19 minutes, which No10 Jantjies slotted to put the Boks ahead 6-0.
Argentina then took the fight to the Boks, but Nicolas Sanchez could not make the advantage count when he missed a relatively straightforward penalty...