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South Africa left no room for the feat. From an overwhelming start to the match, asserting his status as two-time world champion, he imposed conditions to end up winning widely in a closing match in which the match was distorted. The Pumas, who came into the last game of the Rugby Championship with a chance of winning the title for the first time, put up a tough battle, but could not match the intensity of the home team and, in the moments when they had control, they made some errors due to rush that did not allow them to get back into the game.
So, The Springboks ended up winning 48-7 and winning the competition for the second time in their history, the first in a full six-date format. In a packed and fervent Mbombela Stadium, in Nelspruit, the South African players extended the celebrations that began at France 2023 and shared it with their audience. In 2019, its only previous title, the competition was played reduced to three games.
Ignacio Ruiz advances despite Kwagga Smithap’s tackle – AP
Beyond the defeat, The Pumas ended up rounding out the best Rugby Championship in their history. For the first time they defeated the three southern powers and for the first time they did not finish last when the competition is played in full. New Zealand’s victory against Australia in the early morning relegated them to third place. To be champions, the Argentines had to win by at least three tries and eight points difference, a possibility that never existed on the field.
Beyond the numerical issue, and apart from this match, the team that Felipe Contepomi has led since this year showed a clear evolution, with many variants in the attacking game, improvement in discipline, depth in the squad and great players. individual level. A certain irregularity persists, although less than before, which does not allow them to have a performance base on which to assert themselves.
This match, however, should not be framed within that framework. As a final, it should be analyzed on its own. With all their figures, with the passionate support of their fans and the hunger to continue making history, plus the thirst for revenge for what happened seven days ago in Santiago, the Springboks played like the best team in the world that they are today.
Juan Martín González reaches the ball at the top of the lineAFP Agency – AFP
An overwhelming start led to two tries, but it was the end of the first half, after the Pumas got back into the game, that sealed the outcome. There was some haste and lack of judgment to better manage the timing of the game. In the lack of control, South Africa took advantage, reaching the try two more times and securing the victory. Three more conquests towards the end, when the die was already cast, set up a score that is not entirely consistent with the development.
There were some areas where the Pumas did fall below the standard required by a match of this caliber. The 81% effectiveness of the tackle hides some crucial failures that led to deep advances. The scrum, despite the fact that South African superiority was expected, never took off. Three shots were wasted in the lineout. Finally, they were not effective in the last meters. In short, they seemed suffocated by the pressure that South Africa imposed.
Lucio Cinti entered in the first half to replace the injured Santiago ChocobaresAFP Agency – AFP
The Pumas, who had not received cards in the entire competition, saw two yellow cards and one red card this time.: Mateo Carreras was reprimanded for colliding in the air with a rival and Santiago Carreras for a dubious intentional knock-on and Pablo Matera was sent off for charging with his shoulder into the face of a South African while cleaning a ruck. The Argentines committed 11 penalties, but the vast majority were a product of the siege to which South Africa subjected them, many of them in the scrum.
The inconsistent work of New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe did not affect the defeat, but it did affect the extent of it. The last two cards, which left the Pumas playing 13 against 15, led to a largely favorable closing for South Africawhich was able to flourish and make a wide and undeserved difference.
One of the premises was not to commit unnecessary penalties, especially at the beginning. However, the five penalties in the first seven minutes of action that the Pumas committed were not innocent, but forced by the irrepressible substance with which the locals came out to play, driven by the euphoria of their public. From the pressure they put on in the first start, the advance after the line-out in the subsequent attack and a series of unstoppable scrums, it didn’t take long for the first try to arrive, the work of Aphelele Fassi. The Pumas tried to respond by moving the ball, but after an interception the Springboks went on the attack again and once again the siege ended in the in-goal. It was 14-0 in 13 minutes.
Siya Kolisi, the captain of South Africa, lifts the PHILL MAGAKOE cup – AFP
The Pumas found air in a great collective action, a trademark of the 2024 version of this team, and scored: fast line-out, positive penetrations by Joaquín Oviedo and Pedro Rubiolo, break by Santiago Grondona and try by Tomás Albornoz in support. 20 minutes had passed and he had left. The momentum momentarily passed on the Argentine side, but in the eagerness to play on all sides, excessively, they made mistakes that South Africa capitalized on with two more tries to go ahead 27-7 before the end of the first half.
It took twenty-eight minutes for the score to move in the second half. During that period, both teams showed the wear and tear of a long season and there was little room for brilliance. Twice the Pumas were centimeters away from reaching another try, but in the first Juan Martín González committed a knock-on on the in-goal line and the next time he was frustrated by Matera’s penalty in cleaning the ruck that cost him the expulsion. The yellow card for Santiago Carreras a few minutes later ended up breaking the balance. In the last 10 minutes, three tries from the local team sealed the win.
Back 15 against 15 in the epilogue, the Pumas went for the try of honor. They did not succeed, but they retired with their heads held high. The best Rugby Championship in the history of Argentine rugby ends. With a lot to improve, the Pumas put themselves on par with the best in the world.
The synthesis
South Africa: Aphelele Fassi; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and Kurt-Lee Arendse; Manie Libbok and Jaden Hendrikse; Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese and Siya Kolisi (c); Ruan Nortjé and Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi y Ox Nché. Coach: Race Erasmus.
Changes: ST 3m, Malcolm Marx by Mbonambi and Vincent Koch by Malherbe; 12, Gerhard Steenkamp by Nché and Kwagga Smith by Wiese; 16, Cobus Reinach by Hendrikse y Lukhanyo Am by De Allende; 20, Elright Louw by Kolisi; 23, Handrè Pollard by Libbok.
Argentina: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgró, Matías Moroni, Santiago Chocobares and Mateo Carreras; Tomás Albornoz and Gonzalo García; Santiago Grondona, Joaquín Oviedo and Juan Martín González; Tomás Lavanini and Pedro Rubiolo; Joel Sclavi, Julián Montoya (c) and Thomas Gallo. Coach: Felipe Contepomi.
Changes: PT 25m, Lucio Cinti for Chocobares; 26, Pablo Matera for González (temporary) and Juan Cruz Mallía for Isgró. ST 3m, Matera by Grondona; 8, Franco Molina for Lavanini; 17, Pedro Delgado for Sclavi; 26, Ignacio Ruiz for Montoya and Ignacio Calles for Gallo; 27, Lautaro Bazán Vélez for García; 35, Grondona for Matera (sent off).
PT: 8 and 14m, goals by Hendrikse for tries by Fassi, Du Toit, (S); 19, goal by Albornoz for a try by himself (A); 21, Hendrikse penalty (S); 32, try by Fassi (S); 37, try by Kolbe (S).
Admonished: 29m, M. Carreras (A).
ST: 30, 34 and 38m, goals from Pollard thanks to tries from Marx, Du Toit and Kriel (S).
Expelled: 15m, Matera (A).
Admonished: 27m, S. Carreras (S).
Basketball court: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, Sudáfrica
Arbitrator: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Conocé The Trust Project
