South Africa laboured to a 13-6 victory over Argentina yesterday in a Rugby Championship Test in rain-soaked Pretoria. The Springboks failed to build on a Ruan Pienaar try after 82 seconds and finished the game at Loftus Versfeld stadium defending desperately against the underdogs.
Torrential rain throughout the opening half proved a great leveller and South Africa never threatened to achieve the widely expected four-try bonus point.
Centre Jean de Villiers said the conditions contributed to a performance that fell far short of expectations.
“These were among the worst conditions I have played in and remember I spent a year playing for Munster in Ireland,” said the Springboks captain, who was returning to the team after missing mid-year victories over Wales and Scotland through injury.
“However, the most important issue was to win and we did that. Let us also give credit to Argentina for playing really well.
“New boys Damian de Allende, Handre Polland and Lood de Jager came through well and I believe they will learn a lot from this match. Our defending really impressed me, especially in the closing stages when Argentina were chasing a try.”
New Argentina captain and hooker Agustin Creevy hailed his team, who recorded a 60-point drubbing in the corresponding fixture last season.
“South Africa are a very powerful team and we put up a good performance against them,” said the England-based forward. “We did well in the scrums, but the team needs to be a bit more adventurous if we are going to win matches.
“This display offers hope that Argentina can win for the first time in the competition when we host the Springboks in Salta next weekend.”
The visitors paid a heavy price for making too many errors at key moments. In a furious last five minutes they had three clear chances to possibly draw the game.
