Springbok replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok missed a 79th-minute kick that would have won the game, condemning Rassie Erasmus’ side to their first defeat in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship as Argentina won a thriller 29-28 in Santiago Del Estero in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Boks seemed to have done enough to shade a disjointed performance, but Libbok hooked a relatively simple kick that should have put them ahead with less than 60 seconds left that would have secured the Rugby Championship title.
Despite the helter-skelter first half, no tries were scored in the second half as penalty kicks eventually won the day. Still, there were other parts of the game that the Boks will need to fix ahead of Mbombela if they are to finish in style.The Boks again looked like superstars in the opening minutes, and then again had another dip in form, and Argentina, not needing more than a sniff, with a partisan crowd behind them, were more than deadly on the counter-attack, and stretched the Boks more than once.
And to know that a defence that let in only five tries in four matches let in four in 40 minutes, and the Boks were outscored four tries to three, it certainly bears some investigation. While this was a strong side selected, the continuous changes made - there were 10 for this game - seemed to also have an effect as the Boks didn’t look settled - although that could easily have been from the pressure that Argentina put them under.
Despite two exceptional steals from Marco van Staden, the Boks’ breakdown woes continued, and when Arendse was sent to the bin it was the elixir they needed.Suddenly the crowd was behind them, they played with more width and found the loss of Arendse gave them the freedom to stretch a defence that looked rattled. Another wide ball and Carreras had put Pablo Matera away in the same corner for the second try.
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