adminBEUNOS AIRES. — Morne Steyn kicked a pressure penalty four minutes from time to secure a nail-biting 33-31 win for the Springboks over the Argentina Pumas in their Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Salta on Saturday night.
Coach Heyneke Meyer likes character tests and his team most certainly passed this one as for the second time in four matches they came from more than a double figure score behind to win at the death.
However, Meyer will have added to the grey hairs on his head for it was a desperately tense affair and there were enough weak points in the Bok game to keep him awake at night mulling over his options ahead of the next match against Australia in Perth.
Once again the Bok scrum got pummelled, this time by a more marked degree than in Pretoria last week, with no less than three scrums going against the feed in the first half and penalties being awarded against them.
The Pumas are a renowned scrumming unit, but the Boks also struggled in that phase against Wales, so there are issues that need to be addressed there with some urgency, particularly before the All Blacks come into view.
The problems started at the scrums for the Boks, but they definitely didn’t end there, with the defence out wide looking all over the place as the Pumas surprised the visitors with their quick tempo game, their skill levels in moving the ball through the hands and retaining possession, as well as their willingness to play a wide game.
The Pumas missed some try-scoring opportunities along the way and were unlucky to be down 16-13 at half-time after dominating the opening 40 minutes,
but they looked like they were still going to score their first ever win over South Africa when they put in a powerful third-quarter performance that propelled them into a 28-16 lead. — AFP.
Online Reporter