Boks mauled by Los Pumas
Argentina score a historic victory over SA with a committed team performance
● The honeymoon is over for Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
Erasmus, who started his Bok coaching tenure with the 2-1 series win over England and the much-publicised appointment of Siya Kolisi as the country’s first black rugby captain, has reached the stage where he must negotiate through the complexities of competing consistently at this level.
The Springboks beat the Pumas in Durban last weekend but they came short of registering a double over this Argentina side who proved to be stubborn in Mendoza.
It does not get any easier for the Springboks as they have two demanding fixtures against Australia in Brisbane on September 8 and all-conquering New Zealand a week later in Wellington, where they will be looking to stay alive in the competition.
Erasmus and his technical team, skipper Kolisi and the rest of the leadership group, must find ways of motivating the players as they have suffered their first loss of the competition and winning in Australia and New Zealand is not going to be easy.
Besides Lionel Mapoe, who scored two tries, and Kolisi, who scored the Springboks’ other, there were not many positives to speak about, while Argentina were driven to this important home victory by a team effort.
Nicolas Sanchez scored 17 points and a try and Bautista Delguy contributed immensely with two tries as the rest of the team put their shoulders to the wheel.
Argentina scored after four minutes through pivot Sanchez after Frans Malherbe was penalised for holding on to the ball.
The Boks got an opportunity to level minutes later but Handrè Pollard’s kicking woes continued from last weekend in Durban.
The Boks scored the first try of the match through Kolisi, who evaded a few tackles on his way to crossing the line, and Pollard corrected his earlier mistake by converting as SA took a slender four points lead.
The hosts were not dispirited and five minutes after Kolisi had touched down they responded in style with two quick tries by lock Delguy that were converted by Sanchez as they increased their lead to 10 points.
If this wasn’t enough, SA lost influential Eben Etzebeth, who had a storming game in Durban last weekend, to the sin bin for a professional foul after 25 minutes and Argentina used their numerical advantage to good effect immediately, with Sanchez registering a try of his own.
At this point of the match the Springboks looked out of sorts as Argentina dictated terms and Sanchez further increased their lead by 20 points with a well-taken drop goal in the 36th minute after he received the ball from Gonzalo Bertranou.
To his credit, Sanchez was the star performer for the home side as he scored a total of 17 points for the Pumas, who went into the half-time break with a deserved lead of 27-7. The Springboks were faced with a mountain to climb to claw their way back into the game.
The Pumas continued the second half in the same way they had impressed before the break and further increased their lead through Ramiro Moyano, who got the better of the South African defence, but Sanchez missed with his attempted conversion after 46 minutes.
SA reduced the deficit with a powerful try by Mapoe that was converted by Pollard but they still trailed Argentina by 18 points with 30 minutes remaining in the game.
After the hour mark, Mapoe registered his second international try but Pollard’s conversion attempt missed.