Disallowed try lets Springboks get out of jail
ENGLISH Premiership referee Luke Pearce was firmly in the spotlight as he encurred the wrath of the Argentinians by denying them a rare victory on South African soil.
The Pontypool-born official disallowed a try by centre Lucas Mensa three minutes from time which would have put the Pumas ahead and on course to cause a major pre-World Cup shock in Pretoria.
However, after studying replays of the build up to the score and discussing it with the TMO, Pearce decided Jeronimo de La Fuente had deliberately obstructed prop Vincent Koch in his bid to tackle replacement fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta.
It seemed a harsh decision on the visitors and an unhappy Urdapilleta remonstrated with Pearce as the pair ran back to where the Springboks were instead awarded a penalty and Elton Jantjies nailed the vital penalty for his side.
It would have been only Argentina’s fourth win over their rivals and second in South Africa. However, it was the hosts who were able to celebrate more success having been applauded onto the field as this season’s southern hemisphere champions by their supporters.
Wing Sbu Nkosi stole the limelight in the Springboks’ final home fixtures before they leave for Japan. He showed just why he is being tipped as one of the potential shining lights in Japan with a display of speed, skill and bravery.
South Africa have just one more warm-up game, on Japanese soil on September 6, and will want to improve on this performance before setting up camp in that country to start their bid for more rugby glory.
Jantjies kicked an early penalty before Nkosi sidestepped his way over the line past attempted tacklers for his first try.
Fly-half Joaquin Diaz Bonilla kicked the Pumas’ first points before Northampton’s Cobus Reinach threw an interception pass snaffled by lock Guido Petti who raced over the try line untouched. Bonilla’s conversion edged his side ahead at the interval.
Bonilla missed a penalty shortly into the second half which would have increased the visitors’ lead. And the hosts had a lucky escape when Marcus Kremer charged down Warrick Gelant’s attempted clearance. He managed to offload the pass to Sebastian Cancelliere but the ball was knocked on by the wing before he dived to ground it.
South Africa needed another magical moment from Nkosi to stop the rot and put them back in the driving seat and the quickstepping, energetic wing did not let them down.
Aided by weak Puma tackling, he managed to weave his way past three defenders and swan-dive over the line for a spectacular try which Jantjies converted.
Pumas replacement Urdapilleta and Jantjies exchanged penalty blows and Argentina captain Pablo Matera set up a tense final 15 minutes with a try set up from a line-out. He took hooker Julian Montoya’s pass and momentum took him over the line to level the scores. Urdapilleta missed the conversion.
Jantjies nudged his side ahead with a long range penalty and then came the controversial moment which rubbed off de La Fuente’s effort and allowed the hosts to get out of jail.