Rugby Championship Report: A 48 to 7 triumph for South Africa over Argentina
Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and fullback Aphelele Fassi, fuelled the conquering South Africa’s victory in the 2024 Rugby Championship by scoring two tries each. This significant 48-7 win against Argentina was celebrated at the lively Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
Argentinian flanker Pablo Matera was given a red card for 20-minutes and yellow cards were handed to wing Mateo Carreras and fullback Santiago Carreras affecting their performance severely. Due to South Africa’s skilful and innovative backline play, Argentina’s sole try was scored by outhalf Tomas Albornoz.
Among the other tries for the hosts, scored by Malcolm Marx the hooker, Jesse Kriel the centre, and Cheslin Kolbe the wing, the home team distinguished themselves by exerting dominance over Argentina in the scrum.
Springbok icon, Eben Etzebeth achieved a personal milestone by becoming the highest capped Springbok with his 128th appearance, surpassing Victor Matfield’s record. With an eight-point advantage over New Zealand and a final score of 24 points, reigning world champions South Africa brought double celebrations in the table.
“I am genuinely at a loss for words. This journey has been incredible, and the team’s comeback from last week’s loss in Argentina reflects our resilience,” admitted Springbok captain Siya Kolisi. He also publicly praised his teammate, Etzebeth, “Eben, you’ve always stood by us. You’ve consistently guided us as a team. I am exceptionally proud of you. Here’s to you, my brother. I cherish you.”
The match also noted a bold decision from the Springboks in assigning Jaden Hendrikse, the scrumhalf, for kicking duties from the tee, instead of selecting Manie Libbok, the outhalf. Libbok, despite missing a conclusive penalty the previous week in Santiago del Estero, maintained his command in orchestrating the Springboks. In turn, this facilitated an impressive set of seven tries from the victorious South African team.
South Africa secured a couple of early tries to soothe any jitters, keeping the visiting team trapped in their own territory. A well-executed set-piece manoeuvre facilitated Fassi to break through near the goalposts, and soon Du Toit made a move over the top of a scrum, grounding the ball and escalating the score to 14-0 in the same number of minutes.
Argentina responded by breaching the Springboks’ defence with rapid passing, letting Albornoz make a swift run and score their solitary try. The visiting team received their first sanction of the Rugby Championship in the form of a yellow card when Mateo Carreras obstructed Fassi in mid-air.
Enforcing their one-man superiority, the Springboks controlled the ball, and Fassi went on to add his second try where flexible ball movements across the field carved a path for him to cross over. The hosts further enhanced their lead with a fourth try courtesy of an impressive solo effort by Kolbe, who took his defender by surprise in the corner and grounded the ball, pushing the halftime score to 27-7.
The second half saw Argentina reduced to 14 men after Matera was shown a red card for a perilous action at the ruck on Vincent Koch, followed by Santiago Carreras being penalised for deliberate interference. Capitalising on this numerical dominance, the South African team increased their lead with further scores from Marx, Du Toit and Kriel, seizing their first title in the southern hemisphere since 2019, and their fifth in total.
“South Africa deserved this win, they outplayed us today,” reflected Argentina’s skipper, Julian Montoya, adding, “We didn’t live up to expectations, we needed to step up our game.”