The Springboks won the Rugby Championship for the first time in five years when they beat Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit in commanding fashion on Saturday, with a 48-7 victory after leading 27-7 at the half-time break.
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The win was never in doubt after the Springboks – celebrating a new Test record for Eben Etzebeth (128 caps) – had a sublime start that had the sold out crowd of 43 578 in raptures and hardly gave them time to either sit down or catch a breath in a spellbinding first 15 minutes.
They broke the Pumas defence in the opening minute, following a deep lineout throw, and had them on the ropes for at least six minutes before Aphelele Fassi scored the first try, and would eventually add six more tries (to one) on a wonderful celebration of Southern Hemisphere rugby.
Three second half tries were not only good reward for the Springbok faithful, but also a valuable lesson to the visitors, who allowed their lack of discipline to get the better of their skill set in the second half.
But back to a brilliant Bok first half effort.
Fassi goes over for his first try.
The initial sortie into the visitors’ half resulted in five defensive penalties conceded by the Pumas in the opening four minutes. Twice the Boks went for the lineout drive, but both times infringements halted the drive. Two more penalties were conceded – with the Boks opting for scrums – before the crack appeared and Fassi scored under the sticks.
Jaden Hendrikse, who took over the kicking duties from Manie Libbok for this encounter, slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The Boks came back for more almost immediately, this time after another dominant scrum gave them front foot ball and Pieter-Steph du Toit could finish acrobatically. The flanker swan dived over a ruck – almost NFL style – to dot down and when Hendrikse kicked the conversion 14 minutes in, the clock and scoreboard were in sync.
Credit to Argentina though. No team comes into the final match of a Championship with a sniff to win it if they roll over easy and this Pumas side – who already beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa this season – are made from sterner stuff.
They came back in style themselves when a nifty angled run by flanker Santiago Grondona found flyhalf Tomas Albornoz who scored under the sticks and converted to open their scoring.
Eben Etzebeth is now the most-capped Springbok ever.
But the Boks extended their lead when Hendrikse kicked his first Test penalty goal from 35m out to make it 17-7.
Argentina centre Santiago Chocobares left the field injured and when wing Mateo Carreras was yellow carded after a high ball collision with Fassi 30 minutes in, they looked into the abyss again.
Fassi made them pay dearly with his second try shortly thereafter, after numerous phases by the Springboks during a counter-attack of epic dynamics.
Hendrikse hit the crossbar with his conversion, but that was just a blimp on a sublime performance that kept on giving. Even more so when Cheslin Kolbe scored three minutes from the break with a trademark step and go with no space to work with. The try pushed the lead out to 20 points and a happy crowd could not wait for the final 40 minutes.
Hendrikse missed an early penalty attempt shortly after the break in an otherwise immaculate performance and some of his team mates also made the odd handling error, but the fun continued in the Lowveld.
Jesse Kriel goes over for the Boks’ seventh and final try.
There were some not so perfect moments as well, including Pablo Matera’s shoulder charge on Vincent Koch’s head, which earned him a yellow card, pulled the quality aspect of the half down a bit.
Matera’s card was upgraded to red and that finished any chance the Pumas had, unlikely as it was, to secure a fairy tale ending.
The fairytale instead rightfully belonged to the new kings of the Rugby Championship, who scored three late sublime tries.
First Malcolm Marx went over for a 21st Test try from the back of a strong lineout maul, a thing of beauty in the simplicity of the execution, and then Du Toit, perhaps the player of the Championship, scored his second and 11th of his Test career.
A deft Handre Pollard kick also found Jesse Kriel in full flight, and he dotted down to seal the deal. Pollard converted all three late tries to make it a memorable day for all South Africans.
SCORERS
Springboks
Tries: Aphelele Fassi (2), Pieter-Steph du Toit (2), Cheslin Kolbe, Malcolm Marx, Jesse Kriel
Conversions: Jaden Hendrikse (2), Handre Pollard (3)
Penalty: Hendrikse
Argentina
Try: Tomas Albornoz
Conversion: Albornoz
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