Argentina hold South Africa to a draw

Argentina’s Pumas held South Africa’s Springboks to a 16-all draw in just their second Rugby Championship match on Argentine soil.

Argentina took the game to South Africa almost from the kick off and they scored the only try of the first half to lead 13-13 at the break.

The Springboks however dug deep and produced a try from a chargedown in the second half to draw the scores level.

Springbok fly half Morne Steyn had a chance to put South Africa into the lead for the first time with a penalty in the 73rd minute but he missed.

The result will put new Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer under pressure as he has been in charge for five matches to date and this is his second draw so while he remains unbeaten he has a record of drawing 40% of his matches.

In contrast the result will give Rugby Championship newcomers Argentina a considerable confidence as they dispelled fears that they could be out of their depth.

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.

In the first quarter of the match the Pumas scored more points than they did in their 27-6 defeat to the same opposition when they made their tournament debut in Cape Town last week.

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.

Argentina led 13-3 at half-time against subdued opponents and it took South Africa 57 minutes to threaten a try only for Patrico Albacete to turn the ball over with the Springboks deep inside the 22.

Both teams will rue missed kicks at goal with new full-back 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.

The result puts South Africa in second place behind New Zealand’s All Blacks with Argentina in third place and Australia in fourth place without any points in the standings.

Final Argentina 16 (13) South Africa 16 (3)

Scorers

Argentina
Tries – S. Fernandez
Pen – M. Rodriguez 3
Con – M. Rodriguez
Drop –
Cards –

South Africa
Tries – F. Steyn
Pen – M. Steyn 3
Con – M. Steyn
Drop –
Cards –

Match Officials
Referee: S. Walsh (ARU)
Assistant Ref 1: J. Garces (FFR)
Assistant Ref 2: J. Lacey (IRFU)

Teams

Argentina

1. Rodrigo Roncero, 2. Eusebio Guinazu, 3. Juan Figallo, 4. Manuel Carizza, 5. Patricio Albacete, 6. Julio Farias Cabello, 7. Alvaro Galindo, 8. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 9. Nicolas Vergallo, 10. Nicolas Sanchez, 11. Horacio Agulla, 12. Santiago Fernandez, 13. Marcelo Bosch, 14. Gonzalo Camacho, 15. Martin Rodriguez.

Replacements: Marcos Ayerza, Martin Bustos Moyano, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, Juan Imhoff, Martin Landajo, Tomas Leonardi, Juan Pablo Orlandi, Bruno Postiglioni, Leonardo Senatore, Tomas Vallejos

South Africa

15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Bryan Habana, 13. Jean de Villiers (c), 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Lwa