Boks Dodge Mendoza Bullet
Aug 26,2012
Newcomers Argentina dispelled fears that they could be out of their depth in the Rugby Championship by holding lucky South Africa 16-16 on Saturday in the second round.
Fielding virtually the same side well beaten in Cape Town last weekend, the Pumas were vastly improved and led 16-6 early in the second half at the Estadio Mundialista Malvinas Argentinas.
A Morne Steyn penalty cut the deficit to seven points before Francois Steyn charged down a kick by Marcelo Bosch and raced through to touch down for a converted try.
It was a bitter-sweet day for Argentina in front of a near-capacity crowd in the 45,000-seater as they ended a run of 14 consecutive losses against the Springboks since the first Test between them in Buenos Aires 19 years ago.
But happiness at banishing the jinx was mixed with disappointment at not winning a game they controlled for long stages through superb commitment in the tackle and at the breakdown.
"There was a massive improvement from Cape Town so I am disappointed that we did not win and this match demonstrated how fine a line there is between winning and drawing," said Argentina captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
"We wanted so badly to win before our supporters and it was an awesome occasion - being the first Pumas team to play at home in this Championship is something we will remember with pride for the rest of our lives."
South Africa skipper Jean de Villiers said: "We have only ourselves to blame as there were scoring opportunities wasted. Once again I have to admit that we must take a long, hard look at our individual displays.
"Australia away is going to be a different story and we must cut out the niggly stuff that marred our performance," he said ahead of a September 8 third-round clash with the Wallabies in Perth.
Argentina led 13-3 at half-time against subdued opponents and it took South Africa 57 minutes to threaten a try only for Patricio Albacete to turn the ball over with the Springboks deep inside the 22.
Both teams will rue missed kicks at goal with Martin Rodriguez kicking three penalties and converting a Santiago Fernandez try, but fluffing two other penalty attempts.
Morne Steyn also made a 11-point contribution via three penalties and a conversion, but failed twice, including a late chance to win the Test with a penalty kick near the touchline.
World champions New Zealand were 22-0 home winners over Australia earlier Saturday and top the table with eight points after two rounds followed by South Africa with six, Argentina with two and Australia are pointless.
The Pumas looked much hungrier for the ball from the kick-off and Rodriguez opened the scoring on 12 minutes with a penalty before a counter-attack ended with Santiago Fernandez diving over under the posts for a converted try.
Morne Steyn and Rodriguez exchanged penalties late in the opening half and it was a limp Springbok side that received a half-time tongue lashing from visibly furious coach Heyneke Meyer.
South Africa gained more territory and possession early in the second half and two penalties from Morne Steyn and one from Rodriguez left the Pumas 16-9 ahead entering the final quarter.
Veteran Argentine prop Rodrigo Roncero was applauded off the field after a telling show littered with great tackles, but the home crowd were stunned when Francois Steyn earned South Africa two points they hardly deserved.
SARugby.com Man of the Match: Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
Scorers:
Argentina: Try: Santiano Fernández. Conversion: Martin Rodríguez. Penalties: Rodríguez (3).
South Africa: Try: Frans Steyn. Conversion: Morne Steyn. Penalties: Steyn (3).
SAPA
Comments (20)
Aug 26, 2012 at 03:25:39
I'm 25 years old, & I can't recall us ever playing Argentina and not coming away with a win. This is a disgrace to the Jersey. Heyneke Meyer is just like Rudolph Strauli, coming with this one Dimensional Game plan. They should axe him now. Let's not give him a couple years as coach, only to decide two years from now when we are losing, that its too close to the RWC for us to get a new Coach. And why the F*CK is Richardo Loubscher the Back Line Coach ? He was a below average player & I'm sure they can find a far more qualified person for that position
Aug 26, 2012 at 04:13:00
That was a total disgrace,, we were lucky to come away with a draw,,, morne with 5 mins to go, we get a scrum,, what does he do,,, kicks it straight back to the argies,,, where r all u pro Meyer boys now,, tell me did u enjoy that,, don't come and try and defend the man,, there is no excuse for picking his mates from the bulls,, morne has been Kak for ages,, and he will still start and finish the next game,, I have never seen the Bokke so clueless,, all potgieter can do is bash,, when u got argies slowing the ball down what u need is a vark type flanker who is not afraid to stick his head in the ruck to secure the ball,,, but no pottie to scared his hair will get messed up,,, hoagie needs to play on the wing he aint no scrummie end of,,, jdv can't pass,, is a total disaster,, I really wanna hear what u Meyer fans gotta say,, come on nj and co,, let's hear it!!!!
Aug 26, 2012 at 11:30:23
Got to agree with you MB!!!!! Last week the headlines were how morne got his groove back! I would love to hear what they will be this week? How morne lost the plot!!!!! kicking position away and missing 2 vital penalties. He is selected for tactical field kicking and his goalkicking. Well he failed miserably yet again. When clearing on defense the object is to put the ball out of play not kick down the throats of opposition!!! Once again the breakdown was bossed by the opposition! HM is still living in denial the boks inability to secure their own ball and play as a unit really shocking! If we play that way against the AB'S they will put 50 points on us.
HM the hangmans noose is being prepared!
Aug 26, 2012 at 08:26:21
Not sure that I can put my finger on it ...
Selections... Combinations or Strategy?
No, I've got it ... all three!!
Aug 26, 2012 at 08:29:42
Well i was not very confident in this bok team to start.! I do not rate Hougaart as a 9, its embarrassing watching him trip over his feet and look so stupid . Why Meyer changed his loose trio is beyond me. Daniels made an immediate impression when he came on. Potgieter is all brawn and no brain. Mix with a winning combo you will suffer. The change took our best no.7 out the game (Alberts).
M Steyn should be on the bench if not back in SA. We are going to get thumped by NZ and i doubt wether we will beat the Auzzies in Australia. We have no attack or creativity. The Bulls gameplan is outdated and the Pumas beat us at our own game. So disapointed! Im very certain even the Lions could have beaten this bok team!
Changes at 15, 10 , 9 , 7 ,8 will make me positive again!
Aug 26, 2012 at 09:21:55
can i ask something?why isnt erasmus with the boks?was he just for England??
Aug 26, 2012 at 09:30:35
Before the match i was thinking bonus point! After the match i was thinking BAD! Poor selection, no strategy, bad combinations, no confidence, No Captains Presence, poor defence! We just looked dumb! Then i thought you know what maybe the coach needs some time to settle BUT could that be our biggest mistake with all theses signs! I must say i felt a little better with PDV because you didnt know what to expect and he had some great wins that nobody can take away from him concidering the pressure from all corners! But does HM know what we as South Africans expect of our team and him, i dont think so!a few changes he might concider to save himself and the nation from being reduced further and embarassed!
Lambey or Janties to replace MORNEY PERIOD! Pinaar to replace Hougaart-Hougaart to replace Habanna , DeJong to replace JDV , BRUSSOUW TO RETURN AND RESTORE! And with that said the players will still need an over view of what will be demanded of then! No contest at the line outs? Bismark Is a huge loss and fill in Captain! HM you got your work cut out! And if you dont perform then for sure Allistair Coetsie to replace!
Aug 26, 2012 at 09:35:10
He should have got the job from the start, but if i was in charge JW would still be running the show with coetsie on the side to take over or carry out visions! But its not a perfect world! Argies got saved from embarassment if you ask me! AB will school them! No sympathy from me!
Aug 26, 2012 at 13:33:19
we need Brussow and Goosen...
Aug 27, 2012 at 19:12:04
Yes!!!! And we are badly missing Juan Smith,Schalk and Bizzie! I expected a tougher game but only a draw??? I am changing my vote the Bokke will NOT win this competition! I thought Meyer will be better but he just transfered the Buls players and coaching staf to the Bokke so there we go down the tubes! Unless he changes and QUICKLY and DRASTICTLY the ABS are going to beat us by 30 points at a time1
Aug 26, 2012 at 14:17:18
W e can all shout for players we personally think should be in the team but our problem is getting these individuals to play as a team! Individualism and provinsialism needs to go! Our forwards showed no cohesion. Now if you look at NZ they come from many different teams but when they put on the AB jersey they play as a team and for each other. How can we still be so far behind when we compete with them every year. Why are our backs so one dimensional and lack the cutting edge of the Aussie and AB backs?????? it is
All to clear their coaching staff are far superior than ours!!!!!! Why can't we pay top money and get Wayne Smith to come coach our backs?????
Aug 26, 2012 at 14:32:06
Get Brendan venter in there,,, don't perform and u r out simple,,, that man will not take any Kak from players..
Aug 26, 2012 at 17:19:44
There has to be a serious look at the whole process.
Meyer has been very disapointing thus far.
Aug 26, 2012 at 18:28:53
To think that out of the five games we've played under Meyer, we've won three and drawn two. All of these matches were against two lower ranked teams. Four of those five games have been played at home. And the away game was against a team that we've beaten consistantly for the last 20 years, at least. Judging by those stats, as well as looking at the lack of vision in the way we play, I have a feeling that the worst is yet to come.
Aug 26, 2012 at 19:08:48
The time has come to pick new scrumhalf and flyhalf, Carter was groomed so Heyneke you still have time before the world cup don't leave it too late.
Aug 26, 2012 at 23:38:50
I seriously suggest the BOKS need to get smarter!!!!! They kick the ball away when they should retain it or they retain the ball where they should be kicking it for field position. Look back to the RWC when the BOKS played against the Ozzies 70% possession but they could not put points on the board so instead of kicking to apply pressure and gain field position or even force errors they constantly try and run the ball in hand even though they knew that they could not break the Ozzie line after countless attempts, wrong strategy used should have been changed at half time. This weekend they kicked the ball away constantly even though they had a better backline wrong strategy again???? I don’t understand??? This is not grass roots rugby the BOKS should be smarter than this!!! A good team does not always play to their own strengths but also play to their opponent’s weaknesses. The BOKS need to get smarter!!!!!
Aug 27, 2012 at 08:02:47
Have you ever asked why there were no player ratings from the SA Rugby writers? The boks were so @#$*&! it left them at a loss for words! When they saw how bad we were no one wanted to do the ratings. Springbok rugby is so bad the writers dont want to write about it anymore Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aug 27, 2012 at 09:31:36
We can all see that the "Bok" engine isn't running smoothly.There are major confedance issues and a growing concern about the skill at our key positions at 9,10,15 and 13.Tough and hard dicisions need to be made.Not just in the team set up but also in the coaching set up.For a start I do believe that this Ricardo whoever he is Loubsher needs to go.There is no creativity in the backline.On the contrary,at some moments it looked as if no one knew where they were,yet they are professional rugby player-or so they say.
I dont believe that Hyneke should be fired...yet!But that Jaques Nienaber is needed and Gert Small aswell is a defenite yes.Will it happen.Let me tell you now the answer is no.Also we all know that the combenation of Hougaard and Steyn is proving to be a big mess.De Villiers is to old to be in this side and the real Captian is Adrian Strausse the white Eliphant in the team.
Hold on...things need to get a lot worse before they will get better.We need a few new backs and the forwards that we have need to grow some balls.
And Brussow needs to wear no6.We dont have a fetcher and we desperatly need one.
Aug 26, 2012 at 01:49:22
Lucky Bastards !!! Welcome to Argentina !!! Next time we will win !
Greg
Aug 26, 2012 at 04:16:23
Bru they way ur manne played they deserved the win,, congrats on ur performance,,pure grit man,,, I actually feel a bit sorry for u guys,, as one silly charge down cost u the win,,, do me a favour and thump the Aussies,,, we need to sort our shit out man