Smashed: The Boks got a taste of their own medicine
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South Africa needed a charge-down try to snatch a 16-all draw against Argentina at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza on Saturday.
The outcome is the Pumas' best result in 15 Tests with the Springboks, but the hosts will nevertheless be bitterly disappointed after leading the match until the 65th minute.
Argentina held a deserved 13-3 lead at half-time as the limitations of South Africa's predictable game plan were exposed. Unable to dominate their opponents physically or at the set piece, the Boks no had alternative solution to get past the resolute Argentine defence.
Intensity is sometimes an overused word in rugby columns but the Pumas were positively breathing fire! It's a rare sight to witness the Springboks outmuscled at the breakdown area but they were coming off second best as the hosts threw numbers into the contact area, especially in the first hour.
Poor decision making and an inexcusable number of missed tackles left Heyneke Meyer's men staring defeat in the face until Frans Steyn saved their blushes with an opportunistic try.
The verdict from Boks fans will be clear: Simply not good enough.
Argentina were first on the scoreboard when Martín Rodríguez landed a penalty with his second attempt at goal.
The Pumas showed a refreshing commitment to keep the ball alive and were rewarded with a try via Route One at the end of an eight-phase charge. Centre Santiago Fernández collected the ball after a strong run form prop Juan Figallo to ghost into a gap and score under the sticks. Rodríguez added the easy extras.
The full-back missed another opportunity to extend the lead but visiting pivot Morné Steyn was also off target with his first penalty attempt, leaving the scores at 10-0 on the half-hour mark.
South Africa's fly-half landed his next shot though to become the Springboks' highest all-time points scorer, but Rodríguez replied in kind just before the interval to maintain the ten-point gap as the teams swapped ends.
Steyn and Rodríguez traded penalties early in the second period but referee Steve Walsh was starting to tire of Argentina's infringements on the deck and the South African fly-half could reduce the deficit to seven points.
Fernández narrowly missed a drop goal as the hosts tried to run down the clock, but the Pumas were getting ahead of themselves. The game was far from over.
The boisterous crowd was finally subdued when Frans Steyn charged down Marcelo Bosch and jogged in for a match-changing try. His namesake's conversion levelled matters and the scorers were not troubled again.
Man of the match: Veteran prop Rodrigo Roncero had a storming game but we can't look past Pumas skipper Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe who was brilliant at the breakdown, outstanding on defence and made life very difficult for the Boks in the line-outs.
Moment of the match: You've never heard a roar from a rugby crowd like the one after Santiago Fernández's try. It was a great moment for Argentine rugby not only because it put the Pumas ten points ahead but because of the way the hosts threw themselves into contact to set it up. 'Commitment' does not even begin to describe it.
Villain of the match: Heyneke Meyer. Not even the Bulls play old-school Bulls rugby anymore. Something needs to change. Fast.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Try: Fernández
Con: Rodríguez
Pens: Rodríguez 3
For South Africa:
Try: F. Steyn
Con: M. Steyn
Pens: M. Steyn 3
Argentina: 15 Martín Rodríguez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (c), 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guiñazú, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomás Leonardi, 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Lucas González Amorosino, 22 Juan Imhoff.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentinas
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garces (France), John Lacey (Ireland)
By Ross Hastie
Comments
meneer says...
As a Bok fan it hurts to say it, but Argentina were better than us & deserved a win. A very very very very lucky charge down against the run of play gave us a chance. Well done Argentina and good luck for the rest of the tournament.
Posted 13:50 26th August 2012
atg77 says...
Makes me feel better as a Scotland fan, we won a test series down there 2-0... and there was that win over the Boks in 2010. Anyway, I honestly question SA's attitude. After winning by 21 points in the first game, its clear they turned up expecting to win. South Africa is not a country that can expect to beat other top nations playing at 70%. This will be a wakeup call, and the boks will be a very different animal against OZ and NZ. Oh and Francious Steyn... nice charge down... but go on a diet.
Posted 13:44 26th August 2012
Rogidez says...
I believe Heineke is out of his depth at International level. His choice of players in key positions is clearly not up to scratch. Morne' is out of sync with Hougaard, who in reality is a better wing than he is a scrumhalf. Ruan should be starting and Lambie should be in at flyhalf, or even better at fullback. Kirchner is hopeless. The Bulls players are not at their best presently - there is no leadership on the field, no effective attacking strategy. I think Heineke is on the radio all of the time taking advice from his wife, or maybe consulting PDV Lmao.
Posted 13:26 26th August 2012
JayStarr says...
Oh, and by the way... Well done Pumas! Not taking anything away from you with my criticism of the Boks - your defense, breakdown play and high ball play was absolutely outstanding. I can assure you this result will make AUS and NZ sit up, take notice and perhaps even get a little nervous... Keep up the good work and keep improving - you can be one of the top 3 teams in the world one day.
@ hellovanite: Good one mate. Thanks for pointing that out... Was just about to say to them "wait until you get to Argentina, then we see how you do".
@ kiwilad & mumbojumbo: "Innovation" or "creativity" are not words that exists in HM's game plans. He is an absolute control freak. He has gone as far as saying he wants his scrum-half and fly-half (the decision-makers) to make the decisions he wants them to make - which is why he wanted to bring back Fourie du Preez and why he is sticking with Morné Steyn. Even if HM finally picks Lambie or Goosen to start at 10, they won't have freedom to be creative with him as coach...
So I am watching this drama unfold with interest. I've been screaming about this since they wanted to appoint HM as coach... He only knows one way ("winning rugby"), but 2007 Super 14 rugby unfortunately don't cut it in 2012 at test level... England were too poor to expose our flawed game plan convincingly enough, but they figured us out in 2 games and gave us a real go in the last test. Argentina figured us out in 1 game. AUS, even though they are suffering right now, are a pretty clever team... as are NZ - they won't need any game time to figure us out...
So the question is, after how many embarrassments will HM realise that his idea of "winning rugby" is hopelessly outdated, and more importantly, what will he do then? I can't see him changing - he's too stubborn. So then what?
I'm watching with interest.
Posted 12:17 26th August 2012
amaboko says...
I`ve seen many boring rugby matches in top 14 but this one really beats them all. A true bore. It really is hard to be a bok fan today. To me all boks looked like big, ugly, stupid rednecks. The argies should have won. They are a team like Scotland in the north. Generally they will end up last, but inflict some hard fought - and boring - defeats on unimaginative sa and on psychically and mentally lacking oz. The blacks will put at least four tries in each match with them. I`m counting on a total of around ten tries in NZ and Argentina. Or maybe more. They are trully magnificent. The rugby history has never seen a team so complete, so cohesive and so dominant. I`m a bok fan but I`m really disappointed by how they play. Boring and poor. I thought PDV was a stupid monkey, I was wrong - it was me who was stupid - the SA at least played some very good matches while he (or whoever did) coached them. With this brainwashed afrikaner that coaches them now it`s going to be a looong 4 years.
Posted 12:00 26th August 2012
JayStarr says...
I have said so much about Heyneke Meyer, his Bulls coaching staff, the Bulls players in the squad who don't deserve to be there and his 2007 Bulls game plan that I am not going to reiterate myself now...
All I want to point out now is that HM picked what he considered to be our most "physical" side for this game - because, if you remember, HM believes the Boks' best way to play is to "physically dominate" other teams and then move the ball once you have them on the ropes...
Well, as Nick Mallett so kindly pointed out after the game, that might work in Super Rugby (read "at the Bulls"), but in test rugby you can forget about physically "dominating" any of the other top teams...
And Argentina proved that in both tests. Even though they looked a bit over-awed last week, the Springboks could not say they physically dominated Argentina in that game. So what did HM do? He decided that he needed to get rid of the lightweights and get more "ball carriers" (read "battering rams"). In fact, an entire back row of ball carriers. And of course Gio Aplon and Juan de Jongh was not even allowed on the tour... And Patrick Lambie did not even get onto the field...
So how did that work out for you HM? Let me tell you:
After 80 minutes of having a "ball carrier" as first receiver for 80% of the time (instead of a decision-making fly half), and bashing away at the no.8 team in the world's defensive line, the only one of those players who got over the advantage line more than once was Etzebeth. The rest, including Willem Alberts, were stopped in their tracks time and time again. Argentina were waiting for them and tackling them around the ankles. Result? Boks nullified.
Ironically, the only times the Boks made considerable meters was when non-ball-carriers (such as Hougaard, JdV and Keegan) stepped and ran around players instead of into them.
Now what HM?
Posted 11:26 26th August 2012
fattysock says...
@noord_Transvaal
"as for Mace's comment, I can't wait for the wheel to turn again. The world cup the AB's so nearly lost to France have made all your Kiwi heads swell up. Can't wait till someone pops those big empty balloons"
I'd like to point out that Mace's comment is exactly that... MACE's comment. Not ALL OF NEW ZEALAND's comment. Just like we don't assume that BokVanDam speaks for all South Africans, it'd be nice if you didn't stereotype all kiwis based on one idiot.
Then again, grouping/treating all people of a certain type as one is a bit of a thing you guys do, right? or is that just an unfair South African stereotype that you're falling into?
Posted 10:28 26th August 2012
leslieudwin says...
Heiken Meyer is a nervous wreck and worse than snor deVilliers who in the end built up a great time that should have made the wc final if not for that Aus game..
If your coach is a nervous wreck then your team is going to be a nervous wreck.
Get rid of Meyer now before he screams and spits his way to a nervous breakdown
Posted 10:11 26th August 2012
ben7 says...
@jonesy2
NZ- 22 Aussies- 0. i think australia have bigger problems
To everyone else, the boks were awful, but remember that even the kiwis struggle massively every time in argentina.
Posted 09:45 26th August 2012
Ulrich says...
I'd say this is just the tonic the Boks needed. They will have a serious look at themselves and be much better for it.
Posted 09:11 26th August 2012
volbrechtt says...
This is a timely wake-up call for the Boks and their coaching team. I hope they have the mettle and creativity to respond positively. I hope to see Kirchner replaced by Lambie at full-back in Australasia.
Posted 09:03 26th August 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
I am getting so tired of watching international rugby. Give me Currie Cup and ITM games please. With the exception of the AB's, everyone else plays mind-numbingly boring rugby. It's like league but even more worse because with two extra players in each side spread across the field in a military line there is no gap to be exploited. So rugby union now consists of big, tough, strong players who bash into each other for 80 minutes and eternal up-and-unders when they need to 'vary' play. Add to the mix a coaching team that is in love with walkie talkies, screaming instructions to what must be very dumb players on the field who have been relieved of the burden of thinking for themselves. Ah well, what do you expect from men who spend their lives in gyms in between bashing and box kicking? I think I'm going to rather get fit by riding my mountain bike from now on.
Posted 08:27 26th August 2012
noord_transvaal says...
you cant win a game with Bulls rugby if you have a team full of Sharks and Stormers. They don't get it very well... as for Mace's comment, I can't wait for the wheel to turn again. The world cup the AB's so nearly lost to France have made all your Kiwi heads swell up. Can't wait till someone pops those big empty balloons
Posted 08:08 26th August 2012
UBA05 says...
Always great to see boring one dimensional bok rugby get an almighty kick up the arse. That charge down that bloody charge down!!
No way in hell the boks even pose a threat to the black machine now.
Looking for a way to change the boring bok gameplan?? Free state is where i'd look. I know their defence probably isnt the best but boy do those Cheetahs play some entertaining enterprising rugby
Posted 07:48 26th August 2012
sandal says...
Why is Heyneke Meyer constantly on the radio during the game?
What can he possibly be saying?
Suggestions, anyone?
Posted 07:35 26th August 2012
sandal says...
Ah, tries from charge-downs, up-and-unders and intercepts. Sometimes a rumble across the line from close range. And a good goalkicker.
Welcome to the beautiful game that is South African rugby, Argentina.
And well done, too! That is a great start, and demonstrates that you will be a handful in this tournament.
Posted 07:33 26th August 2012
georgesmith says...
Great game by the Pumas. I loved them especially at the way they contested the breakdowns. Very impressive. Springboks were poor and I thought the Wallabies were bad.
Posted 06:35 26th August 2012
jonesy2 says...
idiots saying argentina will beat australia haha. the boks are going to find themselves as the 6th best team in the world if they keep this up. huge problems
Posted 05:41 26th August 2012
bloemboy says...
Well dont Argentina, you deserved more out of this game.
Meyer, U only realised now that you have no fetcher in the squad? Wake up man and dont blame the guys that you selected. They are all good players in their own right but you are continiously getting the balance wrong. Pick a consistent goalkicker is a basic fundamental. Pick a competent fetcher is another. Pick a fullback that is solid under the high ball, has good field placement and can counter is the third. These are three of the first names on any team sheet and you got it wrong with all three.
The team didnt fail, you did Mr. Meyer!
Incidentally, anyone see Sarel Pretorius and Goosen playing? Time to bring them in sooner rather than later, or do they first need to move to Pretoria to be eligible?
Posted 05:35 26th August 2012
cuw3100 says...
@ any RUGBY UNION EXPERT :
"13 Jean de Villiers: Guilty of running sideways too often and his skip passes only limited the options on a field that was narrower than the standard international pitch. 4/10 "
the above is the comment for PR rating, where the statement "...a field that was narrower than the standard international pitch" caught the eye.
can someone tell me how it is possible to play a rugby union test on anything other-than a standard field as dictated by the Laws ?
can understand a school or club or even provincial/franchise match being played like that but don't refrees have to ensure the TEST match is played according to international standards???
as a follower of football , i have not come accross internationals being played on small pitches but there have been many occassions that matches were played on substandard pitches.
Posted 05:12 26th August 2012