The Springboks beat Los Pumas by 29 points to 10 in a very scrappy Rugby Championship encounter at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha).
This was a low-quality match that never rose to any great heights. The uncertainty surrounding the future of the 2021 competition could have influenced this. Both squads were supposed to be on a chartered flight on Sunday to go to Australia. This will be on hold for another day until it is worked out exactly where the teams should head to. Should they be off to Perth, Brisbane, Cape Town or London?
Springboks beat Los Pumas 29-10
Scorers:
South Africa:
Tries: Makazole Mapimpi and Malcolm Marx Conversions: Handre Pollard 2 Penalties: Handre Pollard 5
Argentina:
Try: Pablo Matera Conversion: Nicholas Sanchez Penalty: Domingo Miotti
The Springbok performance
For their part, the Springboks looked like a team that only had one item on the agenda. Take the win. Hopefully with a bonus point. The first objective was achieved, but the bonus point was never really a reality. The Springboks were not accurate in their play, highlighted by several tries thrown away by overthrowing at the lineout when they were 5 meters out from the Argentinian line.
They were very predictable in their attacking play. They were limited to using either Damian de Allende or Jasper Wiese to carry the ball, hoping to break the defensive line.
The Los Pumas contribution
The Pumas were also disappointing. There was no creative attack on display and they were easily smothered by the Springbok defense. They conceded numerous penalties, mostly for negative play. This contributed to the stop-start nature of the match. They conceded 13 penalties in the first half and were probably lucky to have only one player yellow-carded in the half.
Both camps may have been distracted by the uncertainty over the rest of the competition. but this was still a very difficult game to watch.
“Main Photo:”
Embed from Getty Images
