Online Reporter
In the end it was Rassie Erasmus who was right when it came to his Springbok team’s match against Argentina in Buenos Aires— he said it would be a grind and it was as the world champions won a scrappy match 17-10 to complete a 100 per cent buildup to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
That is 100 per cent in terms of wins, which read four out of four if you add this warmup game to the home leg of the Nations Championship.
But this game was about more than just getting the result, it was also about assessing who is ready for the big tests to come, and in that sense the negative note was the loss of skipper Siya Kolisi to what he later confirmed was a hamstring injury in the first half. Kolisi staying on the field was one of the main focuses for the Boks as after playing just the one game, the non-cap international against Barbarians, back in June, the captain needed to prove his readiness for the first test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
Unfortunately that goal wasn’t met and Kolisi now looks unlikely to play in Johannesburg.
“I hurt my hamstring again and I will have to go for a scan to see how bad it is,” said Kolisi in the post-match television interview with the host broadcaster.
“It is really tough, but I can’t be sad about it. I will just have to go for my scan and see how long I will be out for.”
Another concern is Andre Esterhuizen, the big centre, who had to leave the field with a concussion for the second game in succession. If those injuries were the main negatives the positive was the superb performance turned in by Cameron Hanekom in his first full test match in his best position of No 8. Paul de Villiers is of course in superb form and wore the Bok No 6 but having Hanekom, who played with De Villiers on the flank in the game against England, proving his worth as an international loose-forward will have provided a big boost.
So would the impact of the so-called “bomb squad”, who came on the second half and did what they were selected to do — they shifted what up to then had been a difficult game for the Boks in the visiting team’s direction.
In the first half the Boks were scrappy and struggled with their kicking game and, just as Erasmus had predicted, which was why he said it would be a grind, they also lacked cohesion and connection. They were a trifle fortunate to get to halftime level with a spirited Argentina team at 10-all, which was largely thanks to some good defence and then a superbly taken try that featured good hands from Aphelele Fassi and Canan Moodie and the pace of Edwill van der Merwe down the space that created to round it off on the stroke of halftime.
That cancelled out an eighth minute try to Argentina flanker Benjamin Grodona that put the Argentina 10-3 ahead after a second minute penalty from Santiago Carrerras had been answered by one from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. The first half was one the Boks will want to forget, as Argentina thrived on getting the game to be scrappy, and the Boks were a bit fortunate to be level at 10-all at halftime thanks to a try to Edwill van der Merwe on the stroke of halftime that featured impressive passing from Canan Moodie and Aphelele Fassi.
That converted try cancelled out the one that Pumas flanker Benjamin Grodona score through some lax Bok defence near their line in the eighth minute after Carrerras had given Argentina a 3-0 lead after two minutes and then Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had responded with one in the fifth minute. — SuperSport.
