South Africa's hopes of securing the Rugby Championship title were dashed in a dramatic 29-28 defeat to Argentina. Manie Libbok missed a crucial penalty kick in the dying seconds, handing the Pumas a stunning victory.
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 did get one bonus point out of the game by losing by less than seven, meaning they moved to 19 points, while Argentina are on 14 and it is still South Africa’s championship to lose. The one-point difference on the night means that the Springboks still have a positive points differential of 53 while Argentina are positive 16, which means Argentina would have to win by 38 points next week to stop the Boks from claiming the championship.
Match report: No miracle escape in Santiago del Estero, with the Pumas' win setting up a title decider in Nelspruit next weekend - more here:Libbok’s defenders can rightly point out that he hasn’t played a lot of rugby over the past few months and that lack of time in the middle may have been a factor, but it will be difficult to shift to counter the narrative that will come from this kick.
The Bok defence also looked brittle at several stages, falling off tackles in the first half too easily and allowing the Pumas too much front foot ball. It came after the Boks had been relentless in the opening minutes, with Aphelele Fassi ghosting through an outside line to score untouched, and minutes later Jesse Kriel ran a beautiful inside angle to add a second try.But it was like fools gold, as the Boks couldn’t keep up this intensity. Carreras found too much space on the outside and got Argentina on the board.
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