With France beating Samoa in the other playoff, it means the Blitzboks will contest seventh position against the Samoans at 18h15, which will be Neil Powell’s final match with the team that he has served as head coach for nine years.

If ever the Blitzboks endured a nightmarish start to a game, this was it. Argentina scored their first try after just 13 seconds when they won back the kick-off, brushed off too many tackles and worked Tobias Wade over on the left.

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And just over a minute later, Joaquin de la Vega also scored after more missed tackles by the host nation, with Wade adding the conversion to put them in control.

After that, the Blitzboks awoke from their slumber and JC Pretorius – from a great run up right after the restart – got the men in green and gold on the scoreboard, and after much better continuity with ball in hand, Angelo Davids scored shortly before the break, with Ronald Brown’s conversion making it 12-12 at half-time.

The Pumas drew first blood in the second half when Matias Osadczuk went over next to the posts when some gaps opened in the SA defence, and the conversion put them back in the lead again, by 19-12.

Playing with the ball for a change paid dividends as Shaun Williams found space to score under the uprights, converting his own try to make it 19-19 with two minutes to go.

The Pumas hit right back though, with Luciano Gonzalez scoring after some good interplay from the restart, and the conversion made it a seven-point game yet again.

The Blitzboks had one final chance, but Argentina won a breakdown penalty after the hooter had sounded to inflict more misery on the home team’s RWC Sevens campaign.

Muller du Plessis said the results were frustrating and that the players were not doing themselves any favours.

"Last night was a slow start and we had to play catch-up and today it was the same, being 12-0 down in no time due to defensive errors," said Du Plessis, who feels the Blitzboks have one last opportunity to redeem themselves against Samoa.

"We have one more game to go and where we place is not important - we need to give coach Neil Powell something to remember us by, we need the huge crowd who came to see us play and give them something to cheer about, but also and most importantly, we need to put some pride back into the system," said Du Plessis.

"We have not performed, but we have one more opportunity and that will definitely be a focus for us for the last match."

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens 19 (12) – Tries: JC Pretorius, Angelo Davids, Shaun Williams. Conversions: Ronald Brown, Williams.

Argentina 26 (12) – Tries: Tobias Wade, Joaquin de la Vega, Matias Osadczuk, Luciano Gonzalez. Conversions: Wade, Alejo Lavayen, Santiago Vera Feld.

SA Rugby