A 'couple of beers' and back at it: Changed up Boks thrill coach with Argentina win after Lions battle

First-half tries by halfback Cobus Reinach and wing Aphelele Fassi have led a much-changed South Africa team to a scrappy 32-12 bonus-point victory over Argentina on their return to the Rugby Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Springboks rested the majority of the side that beat the British and Irish Lions in their recent series for Saturday’s opener, but continued with their territorial kicking style of play that put the Pumas under immense pressure with the high ball.

Replacement halfback Jaden Hendrikse scored a late try on debut and flyhalf Elton Jantjies kicked 17 points for the home side, while opposite number Nicholas Sanchez scored all the visitors’ points with four penalties.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was rapt with the way the team powered to third Test win in the past three week despite 10 changes to the starting side.

“The work the players put in was awesome,” Neinaber said.

“We had a couple of beers on Saturday after the Series win but we knew we were going straight into the Rugby Championship, and on Monday when I started the first session, I could see the guys were really clued up and ready to go.

“We knew that playing five Tests in a row was a big ask and we made a couple of changes, but you could see the freshness of the players who had come in, after not playing for a few weeks some of them.

“We had a defence session on Wednesday and you could see that some of the guys that had played on Saturday were a bit iffy, but the new guys were climbing into the session and were raring to go.”

South Africa scored three tries to nil to complete a bonus point win before the second meeting between the teams at the same venue next Saturday.

“We knew that cohesion would be an issue with so many changes, but the guys got really stuck in,” said Nienaber.

“Argentina are a tough nut to crack but hats off to the players – I thought their analysis they did was spot on and the plans they put in place were great.”

Nienaber revealed that captain Siya Kolisi had been a doubtful starter after suffering from a stomach bug during the morning but had decided, in conjunction with the medical team, that he was fit enough to play.

Kolisi said that he had had every confidence in the team’s ability to cope with the changed line-up.

“The one thing that I love about this team is that there are no ‘senior’ players or anything like that, and everyone had their own job,” he said. “If something goes wrong in the maul, at the breakdown or in the scrum we know who to look to to fix it.

“We were never in a panic today; we were in control a lot of the time.”

The Boks missed the 2020 Rugby Championship due to concerns over player welfare in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Argentina have only been together in South Africa for just a week and showed plenty of endeavour and willingness to attack, but lacked the sharpness to execute against the well-organised hosts.

“We worked hard, but it was tough today,” Bok captain Siya Kolisi said. “This challenge was different to what we faced against the Lions.

“It was a little bit more physical, Argentina give you challenges at the breakdown and are street-smart in general play. It was all about who could execute better.

“But we have been working hard as a squad and the guys who came in gave everything.”

Jantjies landed an early penalty from the Boks’ first attack, before the home side bagged a first try with a breakaway from Reinach against the run of play.

Argentina tried an elaborate backline move in the Bok half, but when the ball was spilled, the No.9 showed electric pace to beat the covering defence.

Jantjies is a very different flyhalf to the Boks’ regular number 10 Handre Pollard, but at his best is a magician with the ball and his brilliant kick behind the Argentina defence to Fassi was perfect, the winger crossing in the corner as the home side led 21-9 at halftime.

Both sides made numerous handling errors in a scrappy second half but the Boks showed greater control, especially at the set-piece where they began to dominate Argentina in the scrum.

Fassi crossed for what he thought was a second try with 10 minutes remaining, but it was ruled out after the intervention of the Television Match Official as replacement hooker Malcolm Marx was adjudged to have made a double movement in the build-up.

The home side managed another though as Hendrikse marked a memorable debut with a score in the corner as the Boks powered into the Argentina 22.

“It was not the start we wanted, but we played against a great team. We were not clinical in our game and they took advantage, so we need to work harder next week,” Argentina captain Julian Montoya said.